


Dusk

by Kablob



Series: Matter Of Time [3]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: Rise of Empire Era - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Implied/Referenced Torture, Order 66, Psychological Trauma
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-24
Updated: 2015-03-21
Packaged: 2018-03-03 08:34:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 31,961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2844707
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kablob/pseuds/Kablob
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As the galaxy falls apart, Ahsoka Tano finds that leaving the Jedi Order will not save her from the Empire's purge - not when the galaxy's new Emperor specifically wants her dead.  But Palpatine is not the Sith Lord she has the most to fear from, as her former master seeks to pick up where he left off with her. Ahsoka's only choice is to hide and try to save as much of the Jedi as she can. But when an old friend seemingly returns from the dead, she has to decide whether Barriss Offee is worth saving - from the Empire and from herself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Thousand Voices Cried Out

 

Ahsoka Tano had always dreaded meditation. She had only done it when Anakin made her, which had usually been when other Jedi were around. Her old master had a similar attitude towards the practice, he only did it when Obi-Wan made  _him_. She always wanted to do something that actually seemed useful. Who had time to meditate in a war? Meditation was for Masters, it was nothing but punishment for Padawans. Padawans were meant to be in the action, in her mind. Losing your attachments to the world, being immersed in the light of the Force, it all sounded great in theory. In practice, more often than not she found herself trying not to think about how much she needed to use the restroom.  
  
Ahsoka opened her eyes with an impatient groan. It looked like she had lost that particular battle again.  _I've fought off dark Jedi and assassins, but I can't beat my own bladder._  She got up from where she had sat cross-legged on the carpet of Riyo's living room, making her way towards the refresher. There was no sound but the soft echoing of her own footsteps, the lack of light from outside letting her know that she had been at it well into the night. Riyo must have gone to bed a while ago, not wanting to disturb her friend's meditation attempt.  _If I didn't notice that_ , Ahsoka thought as she opened the door to the 'fresher,  _then I'm pretty terrible at being a bodyguard._  
  
She sat down and let her bladder release. Why was she even trying to meditate, when she found it so boring? No one could make her now, it's not like she got assignments from Jedi Masters anymore. Ahsoka let the back of her head rest against the wall behind her with a soft  _thump_  and stared at the ceiling. There was no denying it, the only reason she even tried meditating anymore was out of habit, because it was one of the few things she still had that connected her to her past life. She couldn't just stop being a Jedi, no matter how much she wanted to. It wasn't her name on a roster list, or the braid that had marked her rank of Padawan, or even her lightsaber that made her a Jedi. It was a way of life that she had lived for as long as she could remember.  _Thirteen years._  It was such an incredibly small fraction of her natural life span. How many years would it take for her to stop wasting time with meditation?  
  
Padawans leaving the Order were rare, even if they numbered far more than the twenty Masters who had left. Expulsion was much more common. She remembered hearing a few months before her own ordeal that a fellow Togruta Padawan, a male named Codi Ty, was expelled for seeking vengeance against Grievous. At least they had done the kindness of putting her name back on the rolls, before marking her as having left of her own free will.  
  
Her Padawan "braid" was pulled roughly from her headdress as Ki-Adi Mundi verbally beat her down, not severed by a lightsaber blade in a Knighting ceremony. As a Togruta, Ahsoka couldn't grow hair, so she had used a string of beads to mark her Padawan status. She'd been so used to it's comforting weight that she only noticed it when it occasionally rubbed against her sensitive lekku, forcing her to suppress a shiver. The only time she had taken it off in the short two and a half years of her apprenticeship was the brief period when Cad Bane took it from her as a trophy. When she left she had closed Anakin's hands around it, and she suspected he had kept it as a tragic keepsake of his errant apprentice. Ahsoka didn't even have her old lightsaber anymore - the weapon that now sat on an end table in the next room was built by her a just few months ago on an expedition to Ilum. Ahsoka knew that Anakin would be relieved that she was armed, but she didn't want to imagine what his face would look like if he learned who else had accompanied her and left with their own lightsaber. The Jedi Council's expression, on the other hand… Ahsoka cracked a small smile as the image of the shocked, appalled Masters popped into her head.  
  
 _It would serve them right._  
  
At least losing her old lightsaber and shoto in the depths of Coruscant had saved her from that moment when she would have had to leave the weapons behind in the Temple along with the life they represented.

_I suppose you should thank Barriss then,_ a bitingly sarcastic thought asked,  _for beating you to a pulp?_

Ahsoka winced at the thought. Thinking of the Jedi she'd considered her best friend was still too painful. It probably always would be, but that didn't stop her mind from wandering to her. There were just too many things that reminded her of Barriss. Something she heard would remind her of something Barriss had said once, making her remember a newly bittersweet memory. Once, a few weeks ago, she'd been guarding Riyo as she met with the reinstated Senator of newly-reconquered Mirial, and Ahsoka hadn't been able to look any of the green-skinned, tattooed humanoids in the eye. Which was completely ridiculous, but knowing that didn't change it.  
  
Ahsoka flushed the 'fresher and stood up.  _It's not like I'd be able to thank her even if I actually wanted to._  Barriss had died on the same day the Separatists attacked Coruscant, while Ahsoka and Ventress were off on Ilum. Right after the blasted, nonsensical, insane vision she'd seen on that frozen rock had convinced Ahsoka that there was still good in her "friend" after all.  
  
She walked over to the sink and slammed her hands down on the counter much harder than she'd meant to. What was the kriffing  _point_  of showing her that if Barriss was already dying?! Ahsoka closed her eyes and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. She knew she shouldn't think like that, it's not like raging at the Force would get her anywhere.  
  
 _It's not like you're going anywhere anyway_ , that bitter internal voice said.  
  
Ahsoka looked in the shining mirror behind the sink, staring at her own reflection. Her lekku seemed a bit longer than the last time she'd checked, and her montrals were getting more pronounced too. Other than that, she was still the spitting image of Ahsoka Tano, Jedi Padawan and Commander in the Grand Army of the Republic, even down to her clothes. But she wasn't that anymore, she was…  _what?_  
  
After Ilum, the Battle of Coruscant, and Asajj's celebration, she had contacted her friend Senator Riyo Chuchi of Pantora, and Riyo had offered her a place to sleep and a position as her bodyguard. It gave Ahsoka a good resting place to think about her future, but she was no closer to deciding what she would do than she had been when she walked down the Temple stairs nine months ago. She enjoyed spending so much time with Riyo, but Ahsoka knew that being a bodyguard was definitely not her calling in life. Even if now and then she got to see Padme too. There was an unspoken offer of help from the Naboo senator, but Ahsoka knew that Padme didn't speak it for a reason.  
  
Working for Padme would mean seeing Anakin, and Ahsoka didn't know if she was ready for that. More importantly, she did know that  _he_  wasn't ready for that. In their few conversations, they had deliberately avoided the topic of Anakin Skywalker, but Ahsoka didn't need the Force to tell that Padme was worried about him. She knew that her former Master and Padme were…close, like she had implied to Anakin in her last conversation with him, but she really didn't want to learn just how close. She especially wanted to think that the noticeable swelling of Padme's stomach over the last few months was because she was indulging in too many sweets. The other option was problematic, to say the least.  _Maybe Skyguy will be following my example soon, eh?_  Ahsoka grinned at the idea. The two of them, traveling the Galaxy, no Jedi Council to answer to, fighting injustice wherever they went? The fantasy was appealing, to say the least. But it was just that, a fantasy. Anakin wouldn't really leave the order. Ahsoka removed her gloves and turned the water on, leaning down to splash it in her face.  
  
 _And he and Padme definitely have not done… that!_  
  
She almost believed it.  
  
Ahsoka reached for one of Riyo's towels to dry off. She needed to focus on finding something real to do, not fantasize about some crazy vigilante scheme with Anakin. She didn't lack for options, that was for sure. There were no less than three galactic Senators and two actual  _monarchs_ who would gladly help her out, she could probably get any position she wanted on Naboo, Pantora, Dac, or Onderon. She would definitely be welcomed on Kiros too, for that matter. Roshtii had practically named her the a hero of the planet, along with Anakin and Master Kenobi. But the thought of going to her own people led her thoughts to some of the things she had wondered about for months now. Her homeworld, Shili, a place she only remembered visiting once, when she'd earned the Akul-tooth headdress she wore now. Before that there were only a few vague, fuzzy memories of a small village in the red-and-white savannas. Did she have family there? Were they alive? Did they know about anything she had done since they had turned her over to Plo Koon? Did they even care? Had they smiled to find her name show up in a holonet news report from the front lines, or anxiously followed her trial for treason? Or had they done their best to move on, to pretend that there had never been an _Ahsoka_ Tano. Maybe they were dead, or maybe at that moment they were wondering if their long-lost relative would seek them out.   
  
And though she didn't seriously consider the possibility for a second, the Jedi would always welcome her back. But it was impossible now, for so many reasons. She couldn't look any of them in the eye and would never able to listen to them talk without remembering the time they had cast her out without making sure what they were doing was right. Ahsoka wasn't an idiot; she knew in hindsight that the Council hadn't really had a choice. Trying her themselves would have looked incredibly biased.  
  
 _Because the Senate sure wasn't biased,_  she thought darkly.  
  
A few days earlier she had escorted Riyo to a meeting with the Supreme Chancellor. A dozen senators - led by Padme - had gone in front of him and showed him a petition with over two thousand signatures from their colleagues that demanded he relinquish his emergency powers. And when she heard Palpatine blow them off as she stood outside the door with the other security officers, she remembered the way he had argued against her case when he was supposed to be her impartial judge.  
  
At that moment she had realized that mistrust in the Jedi wasn't the only reason she had left them. She had heard the Jedi described as guardians of peace and justice, but neither of those things had existed for three years. There was something  _wrong_ with the Galactic Republic itself, and Ahsoka couldn't fight for it anymore and keep a clean conscience. Maybe it would change soon now. Dooku was dead at Anakin's hand, a fact that she couldn't help but feel proud of. The war couldn't last much longer, and maybe things would go back to normal soon. Riyo seemed to think it would, but Ahsoka couldn't bring herself to be optimistic. The entire thing just left a bitter taste in her mouth now, a far cry from the eager young Padawan who wanted nothing more than to show the Seppies why it was a bad idea to mess with Jedi.  
  
How many other people had trials like hers these days, and weren't as lucky?  
  
Ahsoka didn't know if she wanted to know the answers to that question. She replaced the now damp towel on the rack she'd gotten it from and yawned. All of that heavy stuff could wait, right now she just wanted to get some sleep.   
  
Ahsoka turned towards the door and took a step forward.  
  
And then she screamed.

* * *

 

Ahsoka had felt disturbances in the Force before, she'd felt darkness, even evil. But none of it compared to the blast of utter dread that hit her then. There were a thousand voices screaming inside her head, voices full of pain, fear, anger, hatred. She was falling through darkness, flashes of hazy, ill-defined scenes of horror leaping into view, only to dissolve into smoke before she could get a good look at them. She heard blaster fire, the hum of lightsabers, the sound of them clashing together, the terrible sound they made cleaving into flesh. She heard an utterly inhuman growl, the sound of glass shattering, and above it all the  _screams_. The Force itself was reeling as darkness enshrouded her and everything else. The cacophony was inside her head, it was everywhere. It had only been a few seconds, but they had felt like hours of torment. Finally the wretched screams were petering out, fading away. No, not fading, they were just  _ending_. Abruptly cutting off without warning, one by one they fell silent.  
  
Ahsoka felt bone-chillingly cold. Without even realizing what she was doing, Ahsoka reached out towards  _him_ , the only one she knew could make it stop, the man whose warmth could banish the cold and the dark of the entire galaxy. For the first time in months the Force bond she shared with her Master flared to life; no matter how far apart in the Galaxy they were, she and Anakin were always right with each other when they wanted.  
  
 _Help me Master!_  
  
What she felt in response was beyond horrific. The darkness was pulsing  _through_  their link, contaminating their mental bond. Instead of comfortingly warm, it was searingly hot. All of the anger, the hatred, all the terrifying madness of it all was flowing from him, overpowering the Anakin she knew, and it was  _burning_  her.  
  
And she could hear his voice above all the others, a deep scream that seemed to come from the depths of his soul.  
  
It blew Ahsoka back, sending her tumbling end over end.  
  
 _Master, no! Please it's me, Ahsoka! I need you!_  
  
She tried to fight her way back against the dark current, back to the one who could save her.  
  
 _Anakin!_  
  
It stopped. The line went dead, cut off. Severed.  
  
 _Anakin, come back! I need you!_  
  
There was no response from him, and Ahsoka slipped and fell, desperately holding on so she didn't lose the path entirely.  
  
 _Anakin!_  
  
There was mocking laughter now echoing all around her, drowning out the remaining screams, but it was not Anakin's. She recognized it instantly, and saw the face it belonged to floating before her for just a split second. Pale, white, hairless, glowing red eyes, a knowing smirk on his face, crimson red stripes running down that made it seem like blood ran from his eyes.  
  
The Son of Mortis was laughing at her.  
  
She summoned up all her strength for one last try, one more yell into the storm.  
  
 _ANAKIN!_  
  
 _Ahsoka!_ Someone was shouting her name, but it was not Anakin.  
  
 _Ahsoka wake up! What's wrong?!_  
  


* * *

  
Ahsoka's awareness flashed back to reality, and she felt the cold tiled floor of the refresher against her skin. There were hands on her shoulders, a light, warm touch that seemed to be afraid it would break her if it pushed harder.  
  
"Ahsoka!"  
  
Her eyes shot open at the sound of Riyo Chuchi's voice. Her friend crouched over her, her face the palest shade of blue imaginable. Her golden eyes were wide in shock and her lavender hair disheveled.  
  
"I-I'm f-fine," Ahsoka stammered without thinking.  
  
"No you are not!" Riyo's voice went high-pitched. "I heard you screaming all the way from my bedroom!" Ahsoka hadn't even realized she was screaming, everyone else's had drowned her out. "What is it?" Riyo seemed to notice then that she was crowding Ahsoka, their faces only a few inches apart. She stood up and took a few steps back, and Ahsoka noticed Riyo was barely half-dressed.  _She must have run straight from her sleep._  Riyo didn't seem to care; modesty was the last thing on either of their minds.  
  
"Just breathe slowly and tell me what happened."  
  
 _Oh,_  Ahsoka thought. She had been so focused on Riyo that she hadn't noticed she was practically hyperventilating. She fought to keep her breathing under control, to shake the horrible dread that had seized her.  
  
"Jedi thing," she gasped out finally, wincing at her instinctive description. She tried to stand up, and Riyo grasped her by the hands to help steady her.  
  
"Do I need to call a medic? Or the Temple, or something?" Riyo's breathing was barely any more controlled.  _Is she shaking, or is that me?_  Ahsoka wobbled uncertainty, her feet barely supporting her weight.  
  
"No, I'll be alright, it was something…" She struggled to find the right words. " _Wrong_ , with the Force." Something Riyo had said struck a chord.  _Temple!_  A new, foreboding terror came over her, and Ahsoka wrenched her hands out of her friend's, bolting for the apartment's balcony.  
  
 _No no no no no no-_  
  
Not having time to bother with the controls, Ahsoka slid the glass door aside with the Force. She skidded to a stop, her momentum carrying her to the railing which she gripped like she was holding on for her life. The worst fear that she had back inside was realized.  
  
The Jedi Temple was  _burning_.  
  
Ahsoka stared dumbfounded at the cloud of smoke billowing over the ziggurat, dimly aware of Riyo's footsteps running up behind her.  
  
"Ahsoka, what-" Chichi's question ended in a gasp. "No! How could the Separatists attack here again?! The kriffing war is nearly  _over_!"  
  
Even the new and unheard of spectacle of Riyo Chuchi swearing wasn't enough to draw Ahsoka's gaze from the distant, flickering orange lights. And even at this distance she could have sworn she kept seeing flashes of blue in it. _Blaster fire._  
  
"Toro! I need you to call emergency services, there's some kind of attack at the Jedi Temple!" Riyo was speaking to someone else, probably over the communicator, but Ahsoka didn't notice. She just stood there blankly, mouth agape, trying to process the image she saw.  
  
 _I can't believe a Jedi could attack a place this sacred!_  
  
She pushed the flashback down to the pit it had emerged from. This was far worse than Barriss' betrayal.  _My home is burning! No, not my home anymore! I don't care, it was my home for my entire life, I can't just stand here and watch! No no no, I wasn't feeling them die, I did **not**  feel Anakin die, there's a perfectly reasonable explanation for why I can't feel him anymore._  
  
"Ahsoka."  
  
Something in Riyo's tone was enough to make her turn around. Her friend was clutching the communicator so hard in her hands that Ahsoka thought it would break. Riyo had just ended a call with someone. If Ahsoka thought her face was pale before, now it was practically white. She was definitely shaking now.  
  
"Ahsoka, I need you to listen to me very carefully." Riyo's voice was much calmer than she looked, void of emotion, straight to the point.  
  
Ahsoka nodded, unable to speak.  _Bad feeling_  didn't begin to cover it.  
  
"I need you to look in my desk and take some things from it. There should be a few hundred credits, a communicator, the keys to my speeder, and a blaster pistol. Take all of them, and you should probably get some food from the pantry, ration bars or something you can eat on the go. There's a medpack under the sink in the kitchen, get that too."  
  
Alright, now Ahsoka was getting scared all over again. "Riyo, what-"  
  
"Ahsoka, there's no time. I just spoke to my secretary, he said that emergency services have been specifically told to ignore the Jedi Temple, it's on  _military lockdown_."  
  
It took a second for her words to sink in.  
  
"WHAT!?"  
  
"It's not a Separatist attack Ahsoka. They're-" Riyo's voice faltered for a moment, and she choked.  
  
"It's the clones. They're attacking the Jedi."  
  
What. _No, that's impossible. Rex couldn't do that, he's my friend, none of them could. Riyo, you're talking nonsense._  
  
None of the words came out, Ahsoka didn't make a sound.  
  
Riyo continued over Ahsoka's shocked silence. "The Chancellor's office says that there was some kind of Jedi rebellion, and it's being suppressed-" Riyo nearly spat the word- "by the clone troops."  
  
Ahsoka made an incomprehensible sound, one that she meant to be:  _Even if that's true, why are you so worried about me?_  
  
Riyo seemed to understand the gist of it. She held up her hand to stop Ahsoka.  
  
"I know, you're not a Jedi. It doesn't matter. Toro said that just before I called him a squad of clones came by and asked him where I was, and especially where they could find Ahsoka Tano. They're on the way here right now."  
  
Ahsoka began, "But-"  
  
"Ahsoka they don't care! They're coming here, to  _kill you_. Palpatine thinks even ex-Jedi are a threat to him." Riyo's panic was seeping out around her outward calmness.  
  
"Now listen to me. Desk, credits, comm, food, medpack, speeder. The next part is going to be hard for you, but you have to listen to me, and you have to do it. Understand?" Riyo had forced down the panic from earlier, now she had the calm, commanding tone that had taken her so far in life.  
  
Ahsoka nodded.  
  
"You have knock me out. Tie me up, too."  
  
Ahsoka's eyes went wide. She couldn't have been more shocked if she had asked her to go assassinate the Chancellor.  
  
"Why in the  _hell_  should I do that?!"  
  
Riyo fixed her with a steady gaze. "If they think I helped you escape, they'll interrogate me until I tell them everything, and then I'll be executed."  
  
Ahsoka's mouth opened and closed a few times before she found her words. "But what about-"  
  
"What? Rule of law? Democracy? Do you think that exists when Palpatine is having all the Jedi  _murdered_?!" She almost shouted the last word. "All of that's dead, as of tonight. I don't buy that " _Jedi Rebellion_ " line for a second. This is a power grab, no question about it. I'm already going to be under suspicion, I signed the Petition of the 2000. One bit of evidence of so-called  _treachery_ , and I'm dead. It has to look like I tried to keep you here. We've got to save each other's lives, Ahsoka."  
  
That was when it really hit her. This was real, this was happening. All the fears she'd never had were happening all at once. This was the beginning of a terrible new chapter in galactic history, and Ahsoka was right in the middle of it. She forced herself to stop leaning against the rail and stand up straight. If she kept freezing up like this she was dead. It wasn't like the last time she was on the run, when Anakin and Master Plo were her pursuers. This was Wasskah, only a thousand times larger. They would kill her on sight now, just for something that she used to be.  
  
And there was no way in this star system or any other that Ahsoka Tano was going to let that happen.  
  
"Alright. I… suppose you want me to do it now?"  
  
Riyo nodded. "Do try to make it convincing."  
  
Ahsoka raised her hands in front of her. Despite all of her amazing resolve, Riyo flinched slightly in anticipation.  
  
"Riyo..." Ahsoka began, eyesight blurring with tears.  
  
"Goodbye, Ahsoka. This is… this is probably goodbye." Riyo looked stricken with pure grief.  
  
She could feel the tears flowing down her cheeks now.  
  
"Thank you. For everything."  
  
Riyo gave a small, sad smile. "That's what friends are for."  
  
Ahsoka closed her eyes. "Goodbye Riyo."  
  
She pushed out with a wave of the Force, directed at the brave, incredible woman standing in front of her.  
She heard a crash, a muffled, reflexive cry of pain, and a heavy thump. Ahsoka opened her eyes to see Riyo sprawled on the floor at the far end of the living room, her limbs unnaturally askew in a way that made Ahsoka wince. There were a few cracks on the far wall where she had impacted. A lamp that had been in her path was in a dozen pieces on the floor now, shattered.  
  
Just like the rest of the world.  
  
Ahsoka ran over, checking that she was alright. She felt like her heart was caught in her throat until she felt Riyo's pulse, and the Pantoran let out a soft moan at her touch. There wasn't any permanent damage, but she would probably have a concussion when she woke up, not to mention the bruises that were already appearing, her blue skin turning dark purple. Ahsoka forced down the intense feeling of guilt; Riyo knew what she was signing up for, and there was no time to think. Ahsoka ran into the kitchen, grabbed a few rags off the counter, then ran back. She was in such a hurry that she had to take a second to remember her knot-tying lessons before she got started. She pulled Riyo away from the wall, bound her ankles together, then her knees, finally her wrists. She had to force herself to tighten them, if she didn't make this believable…  _Don't think about that._ She stuffed the remaining rags in Riyo's mouth and tied the last around her head, gagging her for good measure.  _Sorry, I'm sure someone will find you soon._  
  
There was no time to be sorry. Ahsoka left her friend lying there and ran into Riyo's office, pulling open the drawer of her desk. Hidden behind a couple of datapads was what Riyo had said was there. She grabbed the stack of credits, shoving them into a pocket along with the speeder key. She hesitated over the small holdout blaster before taking it too, making it hang on the hook that had once held her shoto. Hopefully she wouldn't need it. Not even pausing to close the drawer, Ahsoka ran into a hall closet and took an empty rucksack, then went into the pantry.  _She said to get food._  She grabbed everything that looked like meat; some kind of jerky, a few tins of salted fish, a lot of protein bars.  _Make sure this is stuff you can eat, Tano,_  Ahsoka reminded herself, cursing her carnivorous anatomy. Satisfied with her choices, Ahsoka went over to the sink and opened the cabinet beneath it. After throwing out a few bottles of cleaner, she found the medpack and dropped it in the bag. She had another thought and filled up a few canteens at the sink.  _Okay, that should cover it._  Ahsoka hoisted the sack over her shoulder and ran across the apartment to the balcony, trying not to look at Riyo's bound form as she passed it.  _Sorry about the mess._  The speeder was parked next to the balcony on a small platform. Ahsoka threw the sack into the passenger seat and started to climb in the open-topped vehicle, only to stop herself.  
  
 _Blast it, get your act together! How can you forget that,_  Ahsoka scolded herself. She ran back inside and grabbed her lightsaber off the table, hanging it at its familiar place on her belt. The weight of it made her feel safer, but as she thought about it she realized walking around with a lightsaber in plain sight probably wasn't the smartest idea now. She sprinted into Riyo's bedroom, threw open the closet door, and grabbed the first poncho she saw. _Ponchos are the best way to hide your identity,_  Anakin had told her so long ago, which had made Obi-Wan laugh. Master Kenobi had explained that lesson was passed down all the way from Qui-Gon Jinn. Ahsoka threw it over herself, and froze when she heard a pounding on the apartment's entrance.  
  
"Senator Chuchi! This is Commander Stone of the Coruscant Guard, open this door immediately! We have urgent business!" The muffled voice was instantly recognizable as that of a clone trooper.  
  
Ahsoka used the Force to enhance her speed as she ran outside, jumping into the speeder's open cockpit. She fumbled with the ignition, then gunned it, kicking up a cloud of dust behind her as she sped away into the Coruscant night. She had to swerve immediately to keep from hitting another airspeeder as the other driver's horn blared at her. Ahsoka could feel her lekku blushing in embarrassment. She couldn't repay Riyo's generosity by crashing immediately.  _Come on Tano, here and now._  Ahsoka joined the traffic flow and started putting as much distance between her and 500 Republica as she could. It would take them a few minutes at least to override the lock on Riyo's door to discover the "attacked" senator. She could feel her heart pounding against her ribcage, supercharged with the rush of adrenalin. She lost track of how long she flew, going around in huge circles, trying to frustrate anyone who might be tracking her. The time flew by in a blur, until eventually she felt safe enough to think ahead of the next minute.  
  
 _Okay… so now what?_  
  
Ahsoka pulled out the communicator and stared at the input screen. Who could she call? Padme? She couldn't help any more than Riyo could. One name came to mind, and Ahsoka seized on it. It was a long shot, but there was no one else. She had to concentrate to remember the number, and she typed it in to quickly for her to second guess. There was no harm in trying it, after all.  
  
 _Come on, pick up, pick up…_  
  
A raspy, deeply annoyed voice came through.  
  
 _"_ _What?! Who the hell is this?"_  
  
The relief that filled Ahsoka was tinged with irony. "Ventress! It's me, Ahsoka. I need your help, you won't believe what's happening!"


	2. Help On The Way

Asajj Ventress jumped to her feet as the sudden noise woke her from her light sleep, lightsaber in hand and finger on the ignition before it registered that it was only her communicator beeping. She groaned angrily in the darkness of her hideout in the Coruscant slums. For once, Asajj had been having a good dream, one about those few years she had been happy by the side of her rogue Jedi master on Rattatak. Whoever had interrupted it had better have something damned important to say. Asajj picked up the comm and saw there was no caller ID; whoever this was had their signal masked. Her scowl deepened as the pressed the answer key. She was not a fan of mysteries.

"What," she hissed. "Who the hell is this?!"

At first all she could hear was the static of wind noise, then a panicked voice answered.

_"Ventress! It's me, Ahsoka. I need your help, you won't believe what's happening!"_

Tano? What in the name of all the ancient Sith Lords could _she_ want at this hour? Asajj hadn't seen the kid since their trip to Ilum, the day that Dooku had died. They had parted on good terms, or at least she was pretty sure they had. Her memory of the latter part of that day was slightly hazy - it was rare that she had a chance to drink in celebration, and so she had taken it. Asajj had hoped they would never run into each other again. That's what she told herself, at least. There definitely wasn't some part of her that actually liked the stubborn little hornhead. 

It wasn't like that at all.

"Try me," said Asajj.

_"I'm on the run again,"_ Ahsoka said.

Alright, that surprised her, but it was hardly unbelievable. Tano's luck was almost as abysmal as her own. "What, did another of your friends frame you for murder again?" Asajj couldn't keep a slight note of amusement out of her voice.

Tano was anything but amused. "This is serious, you witch!"

"What, did you _actually_ murder someone this time?" Asajj was getting intrigued now. Normally Ahsoka would react to being taunted with taunts of her own, but now she clearly didn't have time for it.

_"No! I haven't-"_ her voice ended in a frustrated noise. _"Just listen to the Force, Ventress!"_

The Force? Asajj furrowed her brow. What was Tano going on about? Well, there was only one way to find out. She closed her eyes and tapped into the pulse of the universe, not something she made a habit of often, it was too much of a Jedi thing for her. What she felt blew her away. There had been a monumental shift in the nature of the Force itself. It was bleeding, as insane as that sounded. It was in turmoil, utter chaos. The darkness that had grown steadily for the last decade had reached critical mass, and now it was blanketing everything and everyone. Whatever this was, it was much bigger than some washout Padawan.

"Tell me what's happening," Asajj said.

_"I, th-theres-"_ Ahsoka stammered.

Asajj scowled. "Spit it out already!"

_"They're killing the Jedi, all of them. It's the clones, they're killing them all!"_

For the first time she could remember, Asajj was at a loss for words. The clones? It took a moment for her to sputter out a response. "What? Why would they-"

_"I don't know, Ventress!"_ Ahsoka yelled. _"But the Jedi Temple is on fire, I'm looking at it right now!"_

The mental image made Asajj crack a smile. That was something she had dreamed about seeing for years, so couldn't exactly bring herself to be upset for Tano's sake. For that matter, it was a little surprising that Tano was in such distress over it. She didn't exactly venerate the Jedi anymore, to say the least. 

"And why do you care, exactly?"

Ahsoka's anger was so fierce that Asajj could feel it over the comm. _"They were my family, Ventress! For my entire life! I can't just forget about that, and even if I could the Republic sure isn't! They're not making an exception for me here!"_

For once, Asajj realized that she'd touched a nerve so raw it was best for her to back off. "Alright, fine! Why are you calling me about it?"

_"Oh I don't know, to hear you gloat about it?"_ Well, she had the sarcasm back, that was a good sign. "I need somewhere to hide from them, and you're the expert on that. And you're the only one I know that won't get themselves in trouble for helping me."

Okay, she had a point there. It wasn't like Asajj could get in any worse standing with the Republic. She had helped Tano out once before because, as she had told Tano's idiot of a Master, she could sympathize with betrayal. But that had been a one time thing, Asajj didn't care if Tano got herself killed by the clones this time. It wasn't like she felt some bizarre sense of attachment towards the former apprentice of one of her nemeses.

Asajj did not care about her at all.

_Damn it._

She sighed internally, giving in to the inevitable. "Alright Tano, just keep running, I'll catch up to you. Try not to die."

Ahsoka's static-tinged sigh of relief rang in her ears. _"Thank you, Ventress."_

"Shut up," Asajj said.

_"Right, I - oh kark, I've got to go!"_ Asajj found herself listening to a dead line. Ahsoka had hung up. The bounty hunter stood up, pulling her helmet to her with the Force and putting it on.

_Oh, I am going to regret this so much. I just know it._ And yet, Asajj found herself walking out into the corridor of the ancient apartment building she had squatted in, and walking down the stairs to the the entrance without so much as slowing her pace.

Asajj stepped through the threshold into the dirty alleyway outside and cursed that frozen pile of rocks named Ilum. She wasn't sure if a new lightsaber was worth the absurd way that vision of her old master had made her keep doing stupid things like this, risking her life for other people.

She closed her eyes and felt outward, searching for Tano's force presence. Normally that would take a lot of doing, but talking on the comm had given her a link, and before long she felt the familiar signature that was now radiating pure fear.

And it was actually moving closer to the Jedi Temple, which had now become a nexus of the Dark Side, poisoned by the slaughter she could feel happening within it's walls at that very moment.

"What part of _"try not to die"_ does she not understand?" Asajj muttered under her breath.

* * *

 

_"Shut up,"_ Asajj said.

Ahsoka rolled her eyes. "Right, I -" The realization that she was flying dangerously close to the Jedi Temple hit her at the same moment that a shot from a blaster cannon flew past her. "Oh kark, I've got to go!" Ahsoka hung up on Ventress and dropped the comm in her open backpack. She glanced in her rear-view monitor, seeing a pursuing LAAT/i gunship right on her tail. The airspeeder's built in comm crackled to life as it hailed her.

_"Civilian airspeeder, this is restricted airspace! Prepare to land your craft immediately, or you will be fired upon!"_

Not much chance of that. Ahsoka got an idea and punched the accelerator, turning directly for the Temple. Up close the sight was a thousand times more horrific, she could actually hear the screeching of blaster fire from below, and the smoke from the massive fires filled her lungs and made her eyes sting and water. Don't think about what's happening down there, think about where you're flying. Blue plasma bolts streaked past her, Ahsoka's Force-assisted piloting giving her just enough reaction time to dodge them by mere centimeters. She and her pursuer shot between two of the Temple's spires, and for a moment the smoke was blinding. She counted on it blinding the gunship too, and as they entered she pushed the craft into the red line, shooting past the Temple itself. She engaged the autopilot, grabbed the gear bag, thought a quick apology towards Riyo, and jumped.

She fell through the air for about twenty meters, slowing her descent with the Force at the last moment. She still hit the ground hard enough for a grunt of pain escape her lips. The speeder continued on the same path until the gunship got a target lock. A missile streaked through the night, caught up, and then the airspeeder turned into a bright orange fireball. Ahsoka kept herself prone until she was sure that the gunship wasn't coming back, then stood up in a low crouch, taking in her surroundings. She was out in the plaza around the Temple, about three hundred meters from the building itself, on the same side as the hangar. She was between two statues of long dead Jedi Masters, their weathered stone faces staring in mute disapproval of the violence happening nearby.

_Great, nice work Ahsoka, you've stranded yourself in the most dangerous spot on the planet._ She kicked herself mentally. How could she have been stupid enough to fly so close to the Temple? Did she unconsciously have some delusion that she could actually do something to help, that somehow a failed ex-Padawan could stop this madness? Now what? _What part of "try not to die" don't you get?_  Ahsoka closed her eyes and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. Wallowing in self-pity wouldn't get her anywhere. She opened her eyes and took in her surroundings, trying to find a safe escape route. Nothing stood out. The statues could give cover, but beyond them the plaza was a wide open space, a killing field. Not an option. Maybe there was something below-

_Ahsoka! Help me!_

She tensed up in surprise. That wasn't her own thought, someone was trying to connect with her through the Force, their presence just barely brushing up against her for a second. Someone was alive!

_Anakin? Is that you?!_ She tried to think the hopeful thought back to the other presence. Whoever they were, they had a Force bond with her, but despite her first hope it was far too weak a link to be Anakin. For a moment she was afraid it had lost her, but then it came back stronger than the first time, a pure beacon of light shining in the darkness around it.

_Help!_

There were emotions attached to it this time. Pain, exhaustion, terror, desperation. Whoever it was, they were in the middle of a fight for their lives. And they had chosen her to reach out to, she had been the one they thought of to protect them. Along with the emotions, Ahsoka got a sense of where to find the presence.

And that showed her how to get out of her current predicament. Ahsoka grinned. The other person had saved her, now she had to return the favor,

_I'm coming,_ she tried to reassure them, but she wasn't sure they heard. Whether that was due to distraction, inexperience, or -

No. They were _not_ dead. She could not do anything to stop this massacre, but now she knew she could at least save someone. She would not fail. Ahsoka looked around, making sure she was unnoticed, then sprinted down the row of statues. She stopped at the fourth one down, the one she recognized as the ancient human master Satele Shan, dropping to the ground again. Ahsoka crawled to a spot in front of it and felt around the edges. Yes, there were grooves in the pavement, a rounded square about a meter in diameter. It was a hatch, cleverly disguised as just another tile. There was no obvious release mechanism, but knowing the Temple architects, Ahsoka had an idea of where it was. She closed her eyes and felt the hatch through the Force, picturing how all its mechanisms meshed together. _Ah, there it is._ The release was embedded inside the hatch itself; it could only be opened with the Force. A slight twist with her mind, and the hatch popped open. Ahsoka wasted no time in dropping down it.

She found herself in a tunnel that stretched longer than she could see in both directions, lit by dim blue lighting that gave everything a soothing hue. It wasn't exactly enough to calm the mind in this sort of situation, but she appreciated the idea of it. She decided it must be some kind of evacuation tunnel, but she had certainly never seen it in her years at the Temple. _Not like they ever told you anything,_ a bitter thought crossed her mind. Ahsoka ignored it and closed the hatch back with a flick of her wrist. The last thing she wanted was for clones to follow her down. _I might have to kill them…_

Ahsoka quashed the thought as soon as it formed. No need to think about that unless it happened. She tried to remember which way the distress call had come from. It quickly came to her, and thankfully it was the direction that led away from the Temple. With no more time to waste, she sprinted down the tunnel, hoping she would get there in time.


	3. A Test Of Strength

_Deflect. Parry. Slash. Deflect. Stab._  That was the only thing that Katooni could focus on. When the attack had begun her thoughts had been all over the place, wondering what could have made the clone troopers who stood by the Jedi's side for all these years turn on them so suddenly. Until -

_Tera Sinube grabbed her shoulder and practically threw her behind him. "Katooni, run! I'll hold him off!"_

Ever since then it had been survival, pure and simple.  _Deflect. Parry. Slash. Deflect. Stab._

A clone trooper's yelp of pain shot through the air as Katooni deflected his blaster shot back into him.  _Don't think about what you're doing. There is no death, there is the Force. There is no death, there is the Force, don't think about what happened to them, there is no death, there is the Force._  She spotted a clone aiming at the back of one of her fellow survivors, the Twi'lek apprentice whose name she didn't know. She shouted a warning, and he turned around just in time for his emerald lightsaber to deflect the shot.  _Don't die, don't die, don't die..._  
   
A Wookiee howl filled the air as a blaster bolt came close enough to singe Gungi's fur. In response the young Padawan jumped forward with a bestial roar, slashing the clones around him to pieces with his lightsaber, even grabbing and throwing some of them with the massive strength that even adolescent Wookiees possessed.  
   
Katooni ran towards the nearest clone, ducked beneath his fire, and slashed at his legs. As the trooper fell she ran her blade through his chest. It was so simple. A few hours ago she would have thought it abhorrent. She had tried to avoid killing any of the clones, until… _no no no don't think about it._  Katooni had never killed anything before that night. She was barely thirteen years old, only officially a Padawan for less than a week. She had only been promoted now that the war was winding down, she was supposed to join her new Master Aayla Secura once Felucia had fallen. They had barely even met each other yet.  _Don't think about Master Aayla, don't think about if she's still alive. Focus on now._  She wasn't supposed to be in combat, this nightmare she couldn't wake from. Katooni had seen more death in the last few hours than she had thought she'd see in a lifetime. She reflected another blaster shot through a clone's helmet, and he fell without making a sound.  
   
Katooni had  _caused_ more death in the last few hours than she had thought she would in a lifetime. She could barely even feel it anymore. The principle of non-attachment was so easy when nearly everyone she cared about was already dead.  _There is no death, there is the Force!_

  
Ever since the beginning of the horror that had descended on the Temple, she had run for her life, tried to save herself and the others with her. She had thought she was running on Florrum, but that was a pleasant afternoon's stroll compared to this. She had thought she was invincible, all of them had. Now they were -  _no no no, don't think about it, no!_  She had run so far and so long, and she had passed exhaustion somewhere around an hour ago. Now the Force seemed to be the only thing that kept her standing. And in all likelihood, it wouldn't for much longer.  
   
The escape tunnel ran into the sewers, but as they neared the end the clones had been waiting for them.  _He_  must have known about this route, known to place troops here to kill any survivors. Now they were making their final stand in this dark box of a room. The clones had blown through the ceiling of the tunnel behind them, and now they were surrounded. The four of them had cut down what felt like dozens of clones, but it wasn't enough. The dim blue lighting was shot through with the bright blue flashes of the clone's lasers, deflected by two brilliant blue blades and two brilliant green blades. It was like a dozen strobe lights flashing in her eyes constantly, leaving her barely able to focus. A group of three decided to focus their fire on her now, and as Katooni desperately deflected their shots she realized that she was not going to be able to stop them all.  
   
 _There is no death, there is no death, there is the Force, there is the-_  
  
"PADAWAN, DOWN!"  
   
Katooni obeyed the command instantly and dropped flat on her stomach. A red-and-white blur shot ahead of her, blue lightsaber spinning faster than the eye could follow. The trio of clones were dead before they knew what had hit them, fallen at the hands of the woman who had shown them the way out of the Temple, the Master who was the only reason any of the three apprentices were still alive. She moved again, this time to cover Gungi. Katooni sprang back to her feet, rejoining the battle they would inevitably lose, despite the clones' heavy losses. Every time they tried to focus fire on one of the younglings, they found themselves facing the only one of them with real combat experience.  
   
It took more than a few soldiers with blasters to take down Jedi Master Shaak Ti.  
   
But even she was not invincible. Hours of constant fighting had exhausted her, she was getting slower, more of the deadly bolts were making near-misses on the younglings. Master Ti had been forced into a one-handed grip ever since she'd been wounded on the upper left arm back in the Temple, and she had suffered her own share of near-misses since then; her tunic was as singed, blackened, and torn as the rest of them. It was only a matter of time before she went down, and then the rest of them would be slaughtered.  
   
As if to underscore the point, at that moment a blaster bolt slipped by her defenses and tore through Katooni's right shin, burning all the way through. She screamed in pain, an agony worse than anything she had felt before, and her leg buckled under her weight. She twisted and fell roughly on her side, barely able to keep a hold on her lightsaber. It felt like her leg was in the core of a star, shooting tendrils of fire along her nerves.  
   
"NO!" Shaak Ti jumped in front of her, keeping the clones at bay from her wounded charge. "Gungi! Jinx! Get on the other side of her!"  
  
Now Katooni was surrounded again, this time by her friends - the only ones who remained. She held her lightsaber out weakly, but there was little she could do to help from the ground. For the first time in that awful, awful night, Katooni found herself crying. The tears ran down her face in a torrent, but if she made any sound it was drowned out by the roar of battle. This was it, she knew. This was the end. She was going to be shot to death in a sewer at the age of thirteen. She'd never know what it was like to learn under her Master, to be Knighted, to take an apprentice of her own. While before she had forced herself to think only of survival, now her thoughts flashed through all the times she had felt safe.  
   
She latched onto one memory in particular, when Ahsoka Tano had protected her and her friends from Hondo Ohnaka and General Grievous. That made for a better final thought. At least Ahsoka would live through this catastrophe; the Togruta padawan left the Order months ago on the day Katooni's lightsaber class was interrupted by a live demonstration. At the time she had silently rooted for Skywalker, reasoning that the Jedi using red lightsabers had to be the fallen one. Now she knew that an azure lightsaber could do just as much evil as a crimson one.

If only Barriss Offee's blade had found its mark, none of this would have happened.  
   
Another blaster bolt hit the metal floor right next to her head, making her flinch and drop her lightsaber. As it's blade winked out of existence, she was sure she would never see it's light again. Her vision was blurring; she was barely staying conscious. With what she was sure would be her last act, she found herself focusing fully on the memory of Ahsoka, desperately hoping against all logic that the former Padawan would save her the way she had on the  _Crucible_  and Florrum.  
   
 _Ahsoka! Save me!_

Amazingly, she heard a reply.  
   
 _Anakin? Is that you?!_  It was Ahsoka's voice inside her head. Katooni's shock turned into a rage greater than she had ever felt before.  _Him?! She wants to save **him**?! _ But Katooni forced herself to move over the anger, she had to get Ahsoka's attention again. Ahsoka probably didn't know what her former Master had done.  
 _  
Help!_  
  
She thought the word with all of her willpower, directing all of her focus towards the Force presence she had brushed up against. She put every ounce of strength she had left into it, with all of her fear and pain and grief. The last thing she heard before her vision faded to black was Ahsoka's voice again.  
   
 _I'm coming._  
 

* * *

 

  
   
It couldn't be much farther. Ahsoka was hearing sounds echo down the tunnel, and they were getting louder as she ran. They sounded suspiciously like blaster fire and death, and she was disturbed to find herself hoping it was the death of the clones. It was turning into that kind of day. Around the next bend she could see the reflections of the blue flashes of light that had once meant she was safe, and now meant mortal danger. She was almost there, she was so close…  
   
When she ran around the bend she saw it. A score of clone troopers with their back turned to her, firing down the hall. They had blown a gaping hole in the durasteel ceiling and dropped down it, trapping their prey in the room beyond. Between gaps in white plastoid armor, she could see the flash of lightsabers. Ahsoka skidded to a hald when she was that their armor was marked with stripes of dark blue. Those were  _her_  men! The 501st Legion, the men she had served with, eaten with, joked with, and mourned with for two and a half years. And now she was going to fight them. She swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat.  _Don't think about any of that right now._  It had to be done. It just had to be. The smartest thing to do would be to charge in and cut as many of them down as possible before they knew she was there, but she couldn't consider it for more than a second. Even if it not doing it got her killed, the idea just seemed wrong.  
   
She cast her poncho to the side - it would only get in the way now - and drew her lightsaber, the emerald blade springing to life with its familiar sound. Taking a deep breath, she yelled at the top of her lungs. "Hey! You miss me?!"  
   
The clones at the back turned around with the precision she had once trusted to save her life. If they had any reaction to their former Commander's appearance, they didn't show it. She had to twist and dodge with all of her skill, her saber a green whirlwind as it deflected the shots that came too close.  _I take it that's a no._  Alright then, she would make it quick. They deserved that. Ahsoka hurled a tidal wave of the Force ahead of her and the company of troopers were sent flying into each other. It didn't matter who stood in her way now, she was going to get to whichever Jedi were in that room. The clones scrambled to their feet as fast as they could, but it was not fast enough. Ahsoka charged forward and gave herself to the battle, and in close quarters against a lightsaber they stood no chance. There were no thoughts about what she was doing, in that moment she wasn't even Ahsoka Tano. Her identity, along with her fears and hesitations, fell away. The Force flowed through her, she  _was_  the Force, and the Force was her. With the clones in the tunnel now focused on the newcomer, the trap fell apart. The other Jedi were free to deal with the enemies on their other flank. It wasn't long before the last man in the tunnel fell, Ahsoka's lightsaber rammed through his gut. She didn't spare a moment's thought to what she had done before running into the room to see who she had reunited with. There would be time for regret later.


	4. Uncomfortable Glances

 

Shaak Ti had never heard a sound as relieving as that of a another lightsaber igniting somewhere down the tunnel. Whoever owned it shouted something that she couldn't understand over the cacophony of blasters, but it made most of the clones on that side turn their attention to the newcomer. Seizing on the chance, Shaak Ti called out to the two Padawans who remained standing.

"You two, stay over Katooni!" And then once again, the veteran Jedi master charged. Not having to watch her back anymore, she could get up close to the clones, something that they had no defense against. They fell before her, limbs flying and deep gashes smoking. It was terrible, but it had to be done. Before long the last enemy had fallen, and the only sound in the room was the humming of four lightsabers. Before Ti could turn and thank the mystery Jedi, the Padawans recognized them. Gungi's howl of joy was so loud that she almost didn't hear Jinx shouting the Jedi's name.  
  
"Ahsoka!"  
  
Startled, Shaak Ti turned and saw they were right. Ahsoka Tano stood among a pile of white-armored corpses at the entrance to what had previously been a death trap, an emerald-bladed lightsaber held reverse in her hand. The young Togruta looked almost exactly the same as the last time Ti had seen her, when she had looked down at her despondent form as the Padawan was banished from the Order. Shaak had felt uneasy even before the truth of her innocence came out, and now her guilt over their actions came flooding back. For Ahsoka's credit, her own injustice was plainly the last thing on her mind. Her face was lit up, the joy at finding them alive overpowering whatever pain she felt. The four of them deactivated their weapons at almost the same time, and they all let out a collective sigh of relief and exhaustion.  
  
"Padawan Tano," Shaak Ti said without thinking, and instantly regretted it. A look of annoyance flashed over Ahsoka's face, and Shaak didn't need the Force to know what she was thinking.  _Not anymore, thanks to you._  
  
But the look was fleeting, and Ahsoka was over it immediately. Before she could speak she was nearly knocked over by an overjoyed Wookiee. Gungi wrapped his arms around her, lifting her clear off the ground in the kind of hug only Wookiees could give as he roared elatedly.  
  
"I-"  _cough_  "-I'm happy to see you t-"  _cough_  "-too, you big f-"  _cough_  "-furball!" Gungi put her back down, looking ready to explode from happiness, a far cry from how he'd been just a minute before. Ahsoka then turned towards Jinx. "I knew you'd make it, Jinx! If you survived Wasskah then you can survive anything." The Twi'lek forced a smile that contrasted with the mournful look in his eyes. Ahsoka's own smile gave way to a puzzled expression as she took a good look at each of them.  
  
"It couldn't have been any of-"  
  
A low moan brought each of their attentions to Katooni's prone form.  
  
"Katooni!" Ahsoka yelled, running to her side. All of them crouched around the injured Tholothian girl, whose eyelids opened with great effort. Shaak noticed that the Padawan's headdress had disappeared sometime during their flight - she had been so focused on escaping that the sight of Katooni's uncovered short brown hair had not registered until that moment.  
  
"Ahsoka..." she muttered. "Am I dead, or are you really here?"  
  
The younger Togruta blinked back tears. "Yes, it's really me. I heard you, I came as fast as I could. Don't worry, you'll be alright, you'll see!" Ahsoka clutched Katooni's hand with both of hers. Katooni smiled faintly, then fell unconscious again.  
  
"Unless you happen to have a bacta tank in that bag, we may still be in trouble," Jinx spoke up. Shaak agreed with him, though she thought it was good to see that Ahsoka's arrival had somewhat restored his personality. Ahsoka flashed him a grin.  
  
"It turns out I do have a medpack in here." She pulled the rucksack off her back and removed a small white box, offering it to Shaak. "Here Master Ti, you should patch her up."  
  
Shaak nodded and began working on Katooni's leg injury. She saw Katooni had sprained her ankle when she fell, but thankfully the blaster had missed the bone and major arteries. A few days in a healing trance and she'd be back to normal.  _If any of us can be back to normal after today._  Shaak Ti was a Jedi Master, she could deal with death and adversity, even as much as this. In the past she had dealt with the deaths of both of her Padawan learners along with so many others. But the Padawans were much more fragile than her in many ways, and she had no idea how Ahsoka was holding up.  
  
Ahsoka rummaged through the sack some more. "Any of you hungry? Thirsty? I've got some food in here."

Jinx shrugged. "I don't have much of an appetite, but I've learned to take food when I can get it." Ahsoka nodded and handed him a canteen and a protein bar. Shaak's thoughts went to him while she worked on Katooni. He was doing better than the others, as his experience on Wasskah had hardened him towards death long ago. But she was still worried about him. Huge portions of Jinx's training were missing, and she knew all too well that even a fully trained Jedi Knight had difficulty resisting the lure of the Dark Side. Dooku, Krell, Offee...and now Skywalker.

  
She repressed a shudder and glanced up at the girl Skywalker had trained. "I fear that would have ended quite differently if you hadn't shown up, Ahsoka," Shaak Ti said. "Though I'm curious as to how you found us?"  
  
Gungi punctuated her question with his own inquisitive roar.  
  
Ahsoka sighed and knelt on the floor. Shaak Ti could see she had gone through her own ordeal that night; there was pain in her eyes far beyond her years.  
  
"I'd explain my whole story, but I don't think we have the time," she began. Shaak Ti had to agree. "I was nearby, and Katooni here reached out to me through the Force somehow." Ahsoka smiled down at the unconscious youngling.  
  
Master Ti was shocked that Katooni could contact someone through the Force at such a young age until she remembered that Ahsoka had been with her at the infamous last Gathering on Ilum. They must have developed a latent Force-bond with each other that Katooni had instinctively used, reaching through it in her time of need. It was not unheard of.  
  
Ahsoka got a rather disturbed look. "Master Ti, what happened? What could have caused this? Who could have done this?!" There was a slight touch of venom in her voice with the last question.  
  
It was a good thing Shaak Ti could keep her emotions from showing on her face and that Ahsoka couldn't see Jinx and Gungi exchange uncomfortable glances behind her back.  _That_  piece of information would have to be broken to Ahsoka  _very_  carefully.  
  
Thankfully, she was almost done patching up Katooni. "I'll explain everything to you when we can rest," Shaak Ti said as she secured the bacta patch around Katooni's leg. "Like you said, we need to keep moving for now."  
  
Ahsoka grimaced. "Right. You know, you've got a nasty blaster wound on your arm there, you should put something on it too." Thankfully the lighting was too dim for her to notice the way Shaak Ti froze in place. "I'm going to seal that hole so we don't get more surprises from behind." Ahsoka stood up and walked off, her gaze pointedly avoiding all the corpses she stepped over.  
  
If Ahsoka had looked at her arm more closely she would have seen that it wasn't a  _blaster_  wound at all. Shaak didn't want to explain to her right now whose lightsaber had left it there. Jinx looked at Ahsoka's retreating form nervously, then looked back at Shaak Ti and began a conspiratorial whisper.  
  
"Master, how are we going to tell her?" Gungi added his own mournful moan.  
  
"Let me worry about that, young ones," Shaak Ti said in a low voice. "For now, we have to focus on making it out of here. And she's right, Jinx, could you help me bind up this wound?"  
  
Jinx took another bacta patch and moved around to the offered arm. Tearing away the already torn sleeve of her tunic, she heard him mutter to himself.  
  
"Don't want her to take a closer look at that…"  
  
Shaak Ti cut him off curtly. "Yes, Padawan, thank you. Now, like I said,  _don't talk about it_. It will be very difficult for her to come to terms with Skywalker's betrayal."  
  
Jinx snorted at that, but made no further comment. Even so, Shaak could tell the three of them were all thinking the same thing.  
  
 _Understatement of the century._  


* * *

  
Satisfied that it would take some time for the clones to cut through her makeshift welding of debris, Ahsoka clipped her lightsaber back to her belt. Anakin had taught her long ago that a lightsaber would work as a substitute plasma torch in a pinch.  _He's alive, he's too resourceful to die. She_  re-entered the room that now served as a tomb for the unfortunate clones.  _Don't think about that until you're in the clear,_  Ahsoka told herself. It sure wasn't easy. She saw that Jinx was putting Shaak Ti's arm in a sling. If the clones had been good enough to get a shot past Shaak Ti's defences, how many others had been less fortunate? There had to have been nearly a thousand Jedi in the Temple.  _Don't think about it,_  Ahsoka rebuked herself. _Don't wonder where Petro is, or Ganodi, or Byph, or Zatt, or O-Mer. Don't wonder about the Jedi spread across the galaxy._  
  
She especially would not worry about Anakin. He just had something blocking their connection, that was it. He would come looking for her as soon as he was able.  
  
Instead she thought about how lucky they were that Shaak Ti was still alive. Having a Jedi Master in the group gave them a much better chance, and she knew that Jinx, Gungi and Katooni were all completely brilliant.  
  
Ahsoka cleared her throat. "So where does this tunnel lead?"  
  
Shaak Ti pointed to the door at the far end of the room with her good arm. "It connects to the sewers behind that door, and they end at one of the sinkholes that lead to the Underworld."  
  
"Yeah, I've got experience with those," Ahsoka muttered to herself. Shaak Ti's montrals must have picked it up, because she grimaced in recognition of the reference. "So that's where we're headed then?" Ahsoka asked.  
  
Ti nodded. "Yes, beyond there…" She shrugged. "We'll have to see where the Force takes us."  
  
Which was Jedi-Master-speak for  _I have no kriffing idea_ , but it was better than nothing.  _I should probably tell Asajj where to meet us,_  she thought, then groaned.  _Oh she is_ not  _going to be happy about this._  Ahsoka ignored Shaak Ti's curious look and took the communicator from its spot on her belt, dialing Asajj's code.

"Hey, it's Ahsoka, how are things on your end?" She heard a lot of wind noise over the comm before Asajj replied.  
  
 _"_ _Probably better than they are on yours. I've picked up a speeder, now would it kill you to tell me where I'm going?"_

"Unless you've been in a firefight too, you'd be right about that. I need you to meet us at one of the sinkholes that go into the Underworld, number-" Ahsoka looked at Shaak Ti expectantly.  
  
"C-328," said the Jedi.  
  
"C-328," Ahsoka repeated. "A sewage pipe near the surface, on the...north side, I think." Ahsoka frowned. "Wait, what do you mean,  _'_ _picked up'_?"  
  
 _"_ _Do you really want to know?"_  
  
Ahsoka rolled her eyes. "No, I guess I don't."  
  
 _"_ _I'll be there."_  There was a pause as something Ahsoka had said clicked in her head.  _"_ _What do you mean,_ 'us' _?"_  
  
"Did I say us? I don't think I did." Ahsoka smirked to herself.  
  
 _"_ _Fine, be that way. I'll see you there."_  Asajj hung up.  
  
Ahsoka replaced the comm on her belt and looked to see all three Jedi were staring at her with very curious expressions on their faces. Jinx was the first to speak up. "And that was…?" Gungi cocked his head to the side, and if Shaak Ti had an eyebrow, it would be raised.   
  
 _Oh, they aren't going to like this either._  
  
"It's a… partner of mine," Ahsoka said carefully. "She's going to pick us up at the end of the sewer." The others kept looking at her and an awkward silence descended over them.  
  
Shaak Ti broke it. "And who is this mystery friend of yours?"  
  
Ahsoka ignored the question and started repacking her bag. "Just trust me, alright? We can talk about it later, we need to get moving." Ahsoka strapped the bag to her back and moved past them. "Gungi, do you think you can carry Katooni?"  
  
The Wookiee youngling roared an affirmative and bent down to scoop the girl up; he barely seemed to even notice her weight. She looked even smaller and frailer than before in his furry embrace. Ahsoka stepped over and lightly touched her on the forehead.  _Hang in there, kiddo._

"Alright then," Shaak Ti said. "Let's go." She gave Ahsoka an odd look, then led them quickly to the far end of the room. Beyond the last few corpses -  _don't look at them_ \- was a sewer tunnel. Ahsoka ignored the smell and followed the Jedi Master in, looking back to make sure Katooni was still safe. Ahsoka walked next to Shaak Ti at the front, Jinx bringing up the rear and Gungi carrying Katooni in the middle.  
  
"I can't see a blasted thing in here," Jinx muttered to himself, barely audible. Ahsoka's hearing picked it up though, and she drew her lightsaber in response. The soft green glow lit up the darkness, casting an eerie sheen on everything around them.  
  
"Better?" Ahsoka glanced over her shoulder.  
  
Jinx looked rather sheepish. "Yeah."  
  
Ahsoka noticed Shaak Ti looking at the ignited lightsaber hilt curiously. "Where did you get that lightsaber?" Judging from her grim expression, Master Ti assumed she had taken it from a fallen former comrade.  
  
"It's mine. I built it," Ahsoka said, slightly annoyed. Ti blinked in surprise.  
  
"Very well," the older Togruta said, looking ahead. Ahsoka was surprised she was leaving it at that, she had expected further questioning.  _I guess she really is trusting me,_ Ahsoka thought. It almost made her smile, despite everything else.  
  
 _Sure,_ now  _she trusts me_  a dark, sarcastic thought crossed her mind.  _Now she needs me. Where was that trust back in the Chamber of Judgement?_  Ahsoka looked down at the floor, watching the dark waters flow ahead in a shallow trickle. Mentally, she tried to do the same with her anger. She was _not_ going to be petty enough to be bitter towards Shaak Ti now. After what they had been through, was she was going to hold a grudge over something that, honestly, had probably been their only real option? Sure, they could have tried a little harder, stalled Tarkin longer, or at least explained their reasoning to her. But it wasn't important now, and Ahsoka resolved to forget about it.  _Think about something else._    
  
Her mind had apparently decided that she must suffer somehow, so she couldn't help but think about the clones she had just killed. Ahsoka had taken lives before - quite a few actually, more than she cared to admit. But never had she done anything like the massacre she'd inflicted back in that tunnel. She could barely remember anything specific, it was all a blur. That part of it downright scared her.  
  
"Ahsoka, are you alright? Pay attention to where you're going," Shaak Ti's voice cut into her thoughts.  
  
Ahsoka looked up, startled, to find that she had gone down the wrong turn of a junction.  
  
"Sorry," she said, embarrassed. "I was just thinking…" The lightsaber blade wavered as the hilt shook in her hands slightly. "Everyone I killed back there, I probably knew a lot of them."  
  
"And you probably knew a lot of the people  _they_  killed," Jinx said angrily. Shaak Ti shot him a look.  
  
"Calm down, Jinx. Ahsoka was with the 501st for most of the war, and we should be regretful for any lives we take," the Jedi Master lectured. Jinx sighed, but made no further comment.  
  
"Not that they seemed to care," Ahsoka muttered. "It's like they didn't even recognize me."  
  
A moment later there was a soft thump and a startled cry from Gungi. Ahsoka turned around to see that Shaak Ti had stopped in her tracks, eyes wide, the blue markings on her lekku deathly pale. Gungi had walked right into her.  
  
"Master!" Ahsoka said. "What is it?"  _No, no, no, no, don't do this to me now!_  
  
"Maybe she's having a vision or something," Jinx said. "Can you hear us?"  
  
Master Ti whispered something, a word so faint that Ahsoka barely heard, and it took her a moment to understand it.  
  
"Fives?" Ahsoka repeated it, confused. The way she'd said it made it sound like a name. The ARC trooper assigned to the 501st? "What about him?"  
  
"He knew," Shaak Ti whispered, seemingly not hearing her. "He was right, and none of us listened…"

Ahsoka reached out a hand and touched her tentatively on the shoulder. "Master Ti, stay with us, we need you right now. Alright? What does Fives know?"  
  
"Everything," she whispered, then snapped out of it, looking around like she didn't know where she was. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have dropped out on you all like that. Ahsoka made me remember something." Shaak Ti started walking forward again. "I'll explain everything later, don't worry about me. I'm fine."  
  
Ahsoka ignored her and worried. What had gotten into Shaak Ti? She looked at Gungi and Jinx, who could only shrug. They were just as confused as her.  
  
"Alright then," Ahsoka said uncertainly, following after Ti. Now she could see the literal light at the end of the tunnel, and could barely make out the shape of a speeder parked down there.  _Oh kriff, this will be hard._  Ahsoka quickened her pace, overtaking Shaak Ti.  
  
"I, uh, should probably take point. Since I've got the light and all," she said, her casualness failing to hide the nervous tone in her voice. "Just hang in there, we're almost out."  
  
"So this friend of yours," Shaak Ti began, now fully recovered from her odd reaction. Great, Ahsoka had hoped to come up with how to tell them on the way but she had distracted herself and now here she was having to do it on the spot-  
  
"Asajj Ventress, I presume?"  
  
Ahsoka stumbled, then whipped her head around to look at her. "What - how did you know?" Ahsoka heard Gungi and Jinx's startled cries, but kept her eyes on Shaak Ti's serene face.  
  
"Call it an educated guess. The side of your conversation that I heard felt… adversarial, but not seriously so. I remembered that she helped you before, and even before that she rescued Master Kenobi from Darth Maul and his brother. Then there was how defensive you got when the subject of your partner came up." Shaak Ti gave a small smile. "I didn't want to press the issue, but it seemed like you weren't going to say anything until we actually met."  
  
"Wait, so we're actually going along with this?" Jinx was incredulous.  
  
Gungi grunted skeptically.  
  
"Ahsoka seems to believe that Ventress has changed for the better," Shaak Ti said. "And I trust Ahsoka, so yes, I'll  _'go along with it'_ , as you put it."  
  
Ahsoka was quite simply floored that it had been this easy. Shaak Ti was going to put her life in the hands of an ex-Sith assassin who was notorious for hating Jedi? All because she trusted Ahsoka? That couldn't be all there was to it, could it?  
  
"I don't know what to say," she stammered out.  
  
"How about,  _this is a stupid plan?_ ," Jinx said.  
  
Ahsoka rounded on him. "And do you have a better one?! You trusted me on Wasskah, trust me now. Please," Ahsoka begged. Besides, Asajj  _had_ changed for the better. Somewhat. A little bit. Maybe.  
  
 _I hope._  
  
Gungi roared that of course he trusted Ahsoka, and Jinx should too. Jinx threw his arms up. "Fine, I see I'm outnumbered here. Lets trust the crazy bald woman who was probably cheering them on!" His voice dripped with sarcasm.  
  
"I'm so glad you agree," Shaak Ti deadpanned. "Ahsoka, have you told Ventress that we're with you?"  
  
 _Kriff._  
  
"Uh, no, I haven't." The end of the tunnel was getting a lot closer now, and there was enough light for Ahsoka to shut off her lightsaber.  
  
"Oh. Well then," Shaak Ti said. "This should be interesting."

%MCEPASTEBIN%


	5. Blasted Jedi

_About time she showed up_ , Asajj thought, spotting the distant glow of a green lightsaber making it's way down the sewer pipe. For about the hundredth time that night she asked herself why she was going to all this effort on Tano's behalf, but it was only a token protest at this point. Besides, it wasn't like she was even doing that much for her. She'd only acquired a battered airspeeder from a pair of lowlifes who had made the mistake of underestimating her and flown it up here, and she would probably give Tano a ride off planet. She definitely was not going to stick around to find out if Coruscant would get any crazier. Asajj glanced around, keeping an eye out for any military craft but so far there was only the usual air traffic, great lumbering cargo ships making the long descent to the slums or desperately climbing their way back up. She impatiently tapped a finger on the console and glanced down the sewer pipe again. Tano was close enough now that she had shut off her lightsaber, no longer needing its light to guide her way. She could just make out the expression on her face - along with her companions.  
  
Asajj did a double take, then muttered some choice Huttese curses under her breath. Her suspicion had been right: that stupid, idealistic little hornhead brat had gone and rescued some Jedi who were stubborn enough not to die. Scowling, she pulled off her helmet and rose out of the worn pilot's chair, leaping over the small gap to the filthy edge of the waste port. She kept one hand on the lightsaber at her belt. Ahsoka came forward alone, an apologetic look on her face. It looked like there were three others staying back in the shadows, two of which were very short.  
  
"Hey Ventress, good to see you, it's been a crazy night," Ahsoka started, giving her best attempt at a smile.  
  
Asajj cut her off before she could go into whatever little speech she'd prepared. "Save it, you lying piece of bantha fodder. I take it that little detour you made through the Temple airspace wasn't an accident?"  
  
Ahsoka raised her hands in mock defense. "Hey, I got shot down, It wasn't my fault!"  
  
"Right, and I suppose the crowd of Jedi behind you isn't your fault either?" Asajj pushed past the girl before she could answer. "Alright, you Jedi scum, come out where I can see you. What has  _Snips_  here dragged in with her?" She heard Tano inhale sharply behind her - the nickname got the response that the insults had not.  _I guess Skywalker's the only one who gets to call her that._  She filed that bit of knowledge away for the next time Tano annoyed her.  
  
Asajj's lightsaber was out in a flash as the three Jedi came towards her, the golden blade making the tunnel look like it was bathed in daylight. One of the short ones, a Twi'lek kid, jumped into a defensive stance and ignited his own emerald lightsaber. The miniature Wookiee - Asajj didn't know they made Wookiee Jedi - growled low and clutched the bundle in his arms closer. On a closer look Asajj realized the bundle was actually another Jedi kid, a Human girl who had passed out for some reason. The Togruta woman in the center didn't even flinch.  
  
"Is that really necessary, Ventress?" The woman gestured at Asajj's lightsaber. Despite her left arm being in a makeshift sling, and the soot, scratches and bruises that covered her ruddy skin from head to toe, the Jedi radiated a calm, commanding presence. She wasn't the least bit intimidated of the notorious Jedi killer in front of her.  
  
"Unless you want to talk in the dark,  _Master Jedi_." Asajj said the honorific like it was an insult, then fixed her gaze on the Twi'lek who at least had the sense to be suspicious. "You're not doing yourself any favors, tail-head. Put it up."  
  
The kid didn't budge until Shaak Ti shot him a look, then he reluctantly sent the blade back into his hilt and hooked it to his belt. Ahsoka tried to walk around Asajj, but before she got past Ventress had grabbed her by the shoulder and shoved her up against the grimy wall, making sure to keep her blade well away so the Twi'lek didn't do something he'd regret.  
  
"You know Tano," she began, getting up in her face, almost shouting to be heard over the Wookiee's angry wailing. "I can understand you rescuing the younglings, what with that hero complex you've got going on. But Shaak Ti?!" She pointed her lightsaber at where the Jedi Master stood, not taking her eyes off Tano. "Did you forget the time that  _schutta_  threw you into the sarlacc pit?!"  
  
Ahsoka returned her glare at the same intensity. "Yes, Ventress, I remember  _exactly_  how she threw me into the sarlacc pit, but I'm not going to do the same thing to her now."  
  
There was that infuriating idealism again. Asajj let go of Tano with snort of disgust and backed away. "You know, I thought that between Jedi backstabbing you and then getting themselves massacred, that just maybe you'd grown a brain between those horns of yours," she shouted. "Turns out I was wrong!"  
  
Ahsoka walked around her, still staring her down, stopping defensively in front of the Jedi. "And I thought that between the Sith stabbing you in the back and Grievous wiping out all your Nightsister friends that you might have grown a heart in there." She actually bared her teeth, resembling the predator that her species had evolved from. "Guess I was wrong too."  
  
For just a second, Asajj seriously considered ramming her lightsaber between Tano's jaws. "Don't you go there," she hissed.  
  
Tano exploded at her. "What, that massacre is unspeakable when you're mocking the one that's happening right now?" Her voice was acidic. "How dare you!" Ahsoka dropped a hand to her own lightsaber hilt. "I'm getting these kids out of here whether you like it or not. I've kept them alive this long, and anyone who stands between their lives and me isn't going to be standing there for long!" By the end of it she was shouting.  
  
Asajj was so surprised she actually took a step back. A long silence fell over them, the only sound the mournful whispering of the wind. The implied threat hung in the air.  
  
Then it was shattered by her laughter.  
  
"Did you actually just threaten to  _kill me?_ In  _cold blood?_ " She laughed again before she went on. "Looks like I was wrong about you again Tano! You've always been a spitfire, but I never thought you had the stomach for murder!"  
  
Ahsoka was rapidly deflating, her lekku stripes darkening in shame. Asajj turned her head and sneered at Ti. "You hear that, Master Jedi? How's it feel knowing you drove her to such dark thoughts?"  
  
If Ahsoka had surprised her, then Ti nearly made her die of shock. "Honestly, at this point I'm inclined to agree with her. I've spilled enough blood for the sake of these younglings tonight, but I won't let that stop me if it comes to that. Especially not _you_ , of all people."  
  
Asajj took a good look at each of their faces. Ahsoka was shamed a bit by Asajj's immoral approval, but she definitely intended to follow through on her threat if she had to. The blasted council member was unreadable, but her hand hovered an inch away from her weapon. The Twi'lek kid was still trying to drill a hole through her with his eyes, and the Wookiee was, well, a Wookiee. Even at his short stature he didn't have to try in order to be intimidating. The unconscious girl shifted in his arms, groaning weakly.  
  
She could take them. It would be easy. And yet…Asajj took in the fierce look on Tano's face. She had to know that she didn't have a chance against Asajj, but Ahsoka just didn't care. Asajj hadn't had a chance against the Separatist army on Dathomir, but that hadn't stopped her from trying to save her new family. And Ky Narec hadn't had a chance on his own against the warlords of Rattatak, but it hadn't stopped him from trying to save its people. From saving  _her._  
  
She could take them. But…  
  
She didn't want to.  
  
Asajj shut off her lightsaber. "You know what Tano, fine. I'll humor you for that little outburst." She pointed at the speeder idling behind her, smiling tersely. "All of you get in before I change my mind." Without waiting for their responses she turned around and took a long jump forward, landing in the pilot seat. Tano climbed in next to her, while Ti and the two kids crammed themselves in the back, laying their limp companion across their laps. Once they were all strapped in Asajj gunned it, pulling a turn that would make most pilots spin out of control and flying nearly straight down the kilometers-deep shaft.  
  
"Hey Ventress," Ahsoka shouted over the wind noise and the younglings' alarmed shouting. "Thanks for this."  
  
"Shut your hole before you change my mind again," Asajj yelled back.  _I knew I was going to regret this._  


* * *

  
  
About an hour later, Asajj landed the speeder in the dingy alleyway that ran next to the abandoned apartment building she had made her hideout in. The craft sank on its ancient repulsorlifts as though in relief.  
  
"Wake up and follow me." She scanned the dimly lit street for anyone else while she walked towards the building's entrance. "Come on, hurry up!" She thought she spotted a shadow moving at the alley's dead end, behind a heap of refuse. The dilapidated door got stuck halfway open, so Asajj moved it the rest of the way with the Force. She let the gang of strays go through the threshold ahead of her, keeping her eyes on the end of the alley. Asajj walked in, sealing the entry back behind her.  
  
"Quickly now," she said, rushing ahead to climb the cracked duracrete stairs to the second floor. The few dim lights that worked were flickering in protest of their existence, constantly threatening to end it. The Jedi followed her silently, and Asajj grabbed Tano by the arm as she passed. "Third door on the right, it's locked but that shouldn't stop you. I'll be right back, I've got to take care of something."  
  
Again not waiting for her response, Ventress strode briskly over to the window at the end of the hall. She jumped through, the glass panes having long ago been shattered, landing on an air-recycler jutting out from the building across the street. Scanning the few beings that were passing through, she found her would-be spy. A Rodian, walking away at a brisk pace, trying so hard to be inconspicuous that he stuck out to her as though he were a shaved bantha. Asajj jumped from platform to platform, a blur in the night. Before long the Rodian had turned down another deserted, dingy alleyway.  
  
 _Last mistake you'll ever make,_ she thought, grinning to herself.  
  
She jumped to a catwalk running above it, then dropped down just as he passed beneath her, delivering a Force-enhanced kick between his shoulder-blades. The Rodian went sprawling with a yelp of surprise, while Asajj turned her momentum into a roll and came gracefully to her feet. The thug was scrambling to his feet, attempting to draw a blaster. Before he could Asajj had blown him back into the side of a dumpster and wrenched it out of his hand with the Force. She lifted him telekinetically into the air as the blaster went spiraling into the darkness, putting just enough pressure on his throat that he had to gasp for breath.  
  
"Who sent you?" she growled.  
  
The Rodian yammered frantically in his native tongue.  
  
Asajj scowled, tightening her grip slightly. "Basic. Speak it."  
  
"Yes, yes, yes!" His arms flapped uselessly around his throat, trying to pry away the invisible hands around it. "Vodo Nash, I work for Vodo Nash! He told me to watch this sector!"  
  
Asajj mulled it over. She recognized the name, that of a local information broker. She lifted him higher. "And what information were you going to bring him?"  
  
A dark stain was spreading on the front of the Rodian's pants. "You came back with people! I was going to tell him about them! That's all, let me go, please!"  
  
Ventress snarled, constricting her hold enough to shut him up.  _Wrong thing to say._  "You're just a petty thug working for another petty thug who thinks knowing a little about what people do in this festering stinkhole makes him important. They don't deserve to get caught by someone as pathetic as the likes of you."  
  
The thug tried to speak, but it came out as a tortured gurgle.  
  
"If anyone winds up collecting the bounty on those Jedi, it's going to be me. Go and tell your master that." She twisted her wrist sharply, and an audible  _crack_  reverberated through the alley as the man's neck snapped.  
  
"Or don't."  
  
She let the limp body fall into the dumpster, then turned and walked away.

* * *

  
  
When she got back to her place, she found the Jedi had settled right in. The injured kid was laid out on a moth-eaten couch while Shaak Ti knelt over her in deep concentration.  _Some kind of healing technique_ , Asajj decided. Ahsoka, the Wookiee and the Twi'lek had passed out on a tattered rug that gave little insulation against the cold, bare floor. They were probably too exhausted to care. Asajj locked the door behind her and walked over to the only Jedi still awake.  
  
"Is she gonna be alright?" Asajj crossed her arms. The girl was in rough shape. Aside from the bandaging around what must be a blaster wound on her lower leg, she was covered in bruises and scratches. Her tunic was torn and filthy, burned from near misses, and sprinkled by patches of dried blood. Whether it belonged to the kid or someone else, she couldn't say. If it wasn't for the slight rise and fall of her chest, she was so still that Asajj would have thought she was dead.  
  
"I've put her in a healing trance," Ti said, not looking up. "Given a few days, she'll be back on her feet. I'm surprised you feel so concerned."  
  
Asajj bristled at the statement. "Contrary to what you may have heard, I don't murder children for my own amusement. It's not her fault you abducted and brainwashed her."  
  
Disappointingly, Shaak Ti didn't react to the barb. "That's good to hear." She put a hand on the girls forehead and looked at her for a moment before she stood up. "I think it's time we all got some rest. We can catch each other up in the morning."  
  
Asajj thought rest sounded great, that's what she had been trying to do before she got caught up in this mess. "Yeah, I think you've got some explaining to do. What in the Force did you lot do to bring the wrath of the Republic down on your heads?"  
  
Ti fixed her with a steady gaze. "You have no idea. Like I said, in the morning." She bent over and laid down in front of the injured girl's couch, closing her eyes.  
  
Asajj stayed where she was and watched her for a while. "I could just kill you all while you slept, you know," she said.  
  
"You could," the Jedi said, not opening her eyes. "But you won't."  
  
"I'll do what I want, Jedi. There's bound to be bounties on you all now anyway." Asajj glared at her.  
  
"Indeed," Ti said matter-of-factly, then fell silent. Asajj shook her head and walked over to where her sleeping pallet was, pushed into the far corner. She flopped onto the bed, then stripped off her boots and the bits of armor attached to her tunic.  
  
"Her name is Katooni, by the way," Ti's voice carried across the room. She didn't have to clarify for Asajj to know which one she meant.  
  
"I didn't ask what her name was," Asajj snapped, then lay down and shut her eyes.  
  
"But now you know it."  
  
Asajj Ventress didn't answer. Her last thought before she drifted off into a light sleep was:  _blasted Jedi._


	6. Thunderous Applause

  
"Are you going to sleep all day, Tano?"  
  
The raspy voice shattered Ahsoka's sleep, prompting a deep groan. _Come on Master, just five more minutes._  Then she remembered where she was and her eyes opened to see Asajj Ventress standing over her. She sat up, blinking away the last vestiges of sleep.  _Out of one nightmare and into another._  She couldn't remember much of her dreams aside from a general feeling of despair surrounding her.  _What else is new?_  
  
"Is it too much to hope that was a dream?" she asked even though she already knew the answer. As she sat up Ahsoka looked around to take in her surroundings; last night she had been so exhausted she had fallen asleep almost as soon as she walked in. It was a one room apartment that had clearly been abandoned for some time before Asajj claimed it. The floors and walls were cracked bare duracrete save for a few old rugs like the one she'd slept on. Three couches were arranged around a low table with a holo-projector. There was a small kitchen in one corner, a refresher unit and shower head with a privacy curtain in another, and a bed that must be Asajj's in the third. There were storage crates and the general debris of life - food wrappings, bits of equipment, things she couldn't even identify - scattered haphazardly around. A boarded up window and bare white illumination completed the squatter look.  
  
"I'm afraid it is," she heard Shaak Ti say. Ti was sitting at the near end of the middle couch, most of which was taken up by Katooni. The youngling was still in trance, but already most of her superficial wounds had faded. Gungi and Jinx were on the left couch, sullenly eating some of Ahsoka's provisions. They had spread the supplies on the table, so she grabbed a can of food and a water bottle. She sat down next to Jinx and Gungi, the seat was rock hard beneath her.  
  
"Yeah, I just thought I'd ask. Now can you tell me what happened?" Ahsoka took a bite out of some kind of preserved fish she found inside.  
  
"Oh yes, I've been waiting to hear this," Asajj said, sitting down on the couch opposite Ahsoka. She leaned back into it, putting her feet up on the table, like she was settling in to watch some kind of holo-drama. Ahsoka had a vague feeling of disgust, but she ignored it and looked expectantly at Shaak Ti.  
  
The Jedi Master took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "First I'd like to hear your story, Ahsoka. The Council knew you were staying with Senator Chuchi, but you dropped off the grid for a few months before that." She was a bit annoyed that Ti had dodged the question, but fine. The sooner they knew how she was involved with Ventress, the better.  
  
"Alright. After I left the Order," she began, then cleared her throat. It got a slight wince out of Shaak. "I met up with Ventress here. A few months later we went on an… expedition together, right before the Separatist attack here."  
  
Gungi growled a question.  
  
Ahsoka glanced down at her lap before answering, anticipating their response. "Ilum."  
  
Jinx reacted immediately. "You took her to  _Ilum_? What? Why would you do that?!"  
Shaak Ti remained impassive, looking at the metallic cylinder clipped to Asajj's belt. "You already know the answer to that, Jinx. There's only one reason that anyone would go there."  
  
Jinx's jaw dropped. "You helped her build a lightsaber? Her?! Ahsoka, do you have any idea how many Jedi she's killed?" Jinx may be a bit overly paranoid, but she couldn't blame him in this case. Said out loud, it sounded completely insane.  
  
Ahsoka looked across at Asajj, who was scowling as usual. "No, but I was almost one of those Jedi a few times over. I wanted to repay her for helping me," she said.  _And some other reasons that I don't want to talk about in front of her_ , she tried to communicate to Shaak Ti through the Force. If she got the message, she gave no sign of it.  
  
"Sixteen," Asajj said. The rest of them stared at her blankly. "The number of Jedi I've killed," she elaborated. "You asked."  
  
Jinx's hand tightened around the black-grey hilt in his lap, but thankfully he didn't respond to Ventress' taunt.  
  
"Then I was with Riyo, like you said," Ahsoka moved on. "I felt the disturbance in the Force from the attack, but if it wasn't for her, I would have been killed before I knew what was happening." Ahsoka could feel her lekku swing slightly back and forth. She was trembling. "I had to make it look like I attacked her so they wouldn't kill her for helping me." She stared Shaak Ti in the eyes. "Master Ti, enough of this.  _What happened?_ "  
  
"I'd like to know that too honestly," Jinx spoke up. "I was just coming back from the evening meal, then all of a sudden Master Drallig was shoving a lightsaber in my hand. I'd never held anything other than a training saber before then. Next thing I knew the clones were marching up the stairs." He gave Ahsoka a nervous glance at the end - she had no idea why. Before she could ask him about it Shaak Ti had started to talk.  
  
"Alright, all of you deserve to know what happened."  
  
Asajj leaned forward, grinning with anticipation. "Oh, this should be good." Ahsoka shot her a dirty look, but stayed quiet.  
  
"Are any of you familiar with the name  _Darth Sidious_?" Shaak's voice trembled slightly as she pronounced the title.  
  
Jinx and Gungi looked utterly lost. Ahsoka frowned. "I think so." She remembered hearing Anakin say something about it, and she had gotten the distinct impression that he was not supposed to tell her about it. "Didn't Dooku tell Master Kenobi that was the name of a Sith Lord who controlled the Senate?" As far as she knew, it had been dismissed as a fabrication designed by Dooku to make his enemies paranoid.  
  
"He told me the same," Asajj said, looking even more intrigued. "Even saw him in a hologram a few times, not that he ever showed his face. What about him?" Comprehension dawned on her. "You found him, didn't you?"  
  
Shaak Ti seemed to shrink a little, shivering at the memory. "Yes. He revealed himself to Skywalker, and Skywalker took the news to us. It was a truth so awful that none of us even thought to fear it."  
  
"Someone close to Palpatine, then? He'd have to be, if he could set up all of this," Asajj said.  
  
"Just shut up and let her talk already!" Ahsoka's voice hit a high note. Her heart had jumped into her throat at the mention of Anakin being with the Sith Lord. Asajj glared at her, but complied.  
  
 _He's alright, he's fine. Anakin can't die, he's supposed to be the one that fixes all of this!_  
  
Shaak Ti closed her eyes and said it outright.  
  
"Darth Sidious  _is_  Chancellor Palpatine."  
  
The words hit them like a blast from a laser cannon. Ahsoka's mouth dropped open, along with Jinx and Gungi's. Even Ventress' eyes had gone wide. She felt like the room's temperature had dropped ten degrees. It was impossible. It was absurd. It couldn't be true.  
  
"That bastard," Asajj Ventress said, shaking her head slowly. "That complete, utter, magnificent  _bastard_. I always thought he was one of the senators, but the Chancellor?! And you…" she turned her head towards Shaak Ti and scowled. "You actually fell for it! How arrogant do you have to be, how kriffing stupid were you Jedi, that you didn't even notice that you were taking orders from the _Dark Lord of the Sith?!_ "   
  
Ahsoka was halfway to her feet, an angry retort forming on her lips, when Shaak Ti beat her to it.  
  
"You're right, Ventress. Absolutely right. We were blind and arrogant and foolish, and it destroyed us all," Shaak got the distant look she'd had in the sewers. "And I might be the worst fool of us all."  
  
Ventress was so surprised she didn't even keep up the mocking; she sat in shocked silence. Ahsoka lowered herself back down, then fell into the seat when the full implication of Sidious' identity hit her.  
"But th-that w-would mean," she stammered, wrapping her arms around herself. "The war. All of it, everything. He was… Oh Force, I've talked to him, I've been in the same room as…" She wanted to vomit her breakfast back out onto the floor. Palpatine's face flashed across her mind, a mocking light in his eyes that she'd never noticed.  
  
 _He was Anakin's friend. He was Anakin's friend, and he betrayed him from the beginning._  
  
She had to concentrate to keep another face from appearing at the thought of betrayal.  _Not now, Barriss._  
"Yes. In the end, all of us answered to him," Ti said. "Masters Windu, Fisto, Tiin and Kolar went to arrest him. They left me, Skywalker, and Master Drallig in charge of Temple security in case they failed." She closed her eyes. "They did. None of them came back, and I felt their deaths in the Force."  
  
"That's crazy," Asajj said. "How can someone be that powerful? He beat a third of the Jedi Council, by himself, and one of them was _Mace Windu?!_ " She slowly shook her head again. "You never stood a chance."  
  
Ahsoka tried to turn her thoughts into words, but her mouth was being extremely uncooperative. "What you said back in the tunnel…" she managed at last.  
  
Ti sighed audibly. "Yes, I was coming to that. That's where I failed  _personally_. A few months ago, just before the outer rim sieges, a clone trooper named Tup had what seemed to be a mental breakdown. He executed Master Tiplar, in the middle of battle."  
  
Before yesterday, Ahsoka would have been shocked to hear it. Tup was her friend, but some of those men in the tunnel were too. Clone betrayal didn't faze her anymore.  
  
"How does Fives come into it?" she asked.  
  
Shaak Ti looked completely heartbroken. "He tried to investigate Tup's breakdown and subsequent death. He found an organic chip in Tup's head had gone faulty, a chip that is in every single clone trooper. The Kaminoans assured me it was just a means to make the clones more obedient, they insisted that Fives was suffering a breakdown of his own. Now I know they were covering it up. I did what I thought was the only thing I could do to make sure Fives' concern was heard." Shaak actually clenched her fists, the most outward anger Ahsoka had ever seen from her. "I got him an audience with the Chancellor."  
  
Ahsoka groaned, a sound of pure heartache. Shaak Ti continued.  
  
"Fives tried to kill him while they were talking together privately. I thought I was saving the Chancellor's life when I ran in there to stop him. Fives fled, had an  _actual_  paranoid breakdown, and wound up being killed resisting arrest." Ahsoka could have sworn there were tears in Shaak Ti's eyes. "I think Sidious told him the truth about everything, and it drove him mad. Who wouldn't go mad, finding out their entire life was a lie, that they were created for one purpose only - to enact the revenge of the Sith? The Clone Wars were a trap from the beginning. The chips were for obedience, that was true, but obedience for when the order went out."  
  
Ahsoka gasped. "The Jedi on the battlefields! They would have been… oh no."  
  
Jinx leaned forward and put his head in his hands. Gungi shouted to the unseen sky. Ventress remained silent.  
  
"Killed before they knew what was happening," Shaak Ti finished sadly. "I doubt more than one in a hundred survived. And…" Shaak cleared her throat. "I'm afraid there's more."  
  
"More?!" Ahsoka's voice came out much louder than she intended. Katooni shifted at the noise, but Ahsoka shouted on anyway. "What more could there be?! What else could he have done?!"  
  
Asajj raised an eyebrow, but Shaak Ti didn't react to the vehemence in Ahsoka's tone. Instead she leaned forward and picked a device up off the table which Ahsoka instantly recognized as a Jedi beacon transceiver.  
  
"My beacon was damaged during the battle, I repaired it while you slept and hoped I would hear from other survivors. It only started working an hour ago, and instead of a distress call I found this." She held the screen close to her face and read out the message.  
  
"This is Master Mace Windu: The war is over. Effective immediately, all members of the Order are recalled to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant."  
  
It took a moment for the meaning of the message to register. When it did, Gungi roared in anger.  
  
"Exactly what I thought, Gungi." Shaak let the beacon fall into her lap. "It's a trap meant to lure any survivors into an ambush."  
  
"They're nothing if not thorough," Asajj murmured.  
  
"But - we have to go back!" The others looked at Ahsoka uncertainly. "If we let that message keep broadcasting, how many more will die?"  
  
"We can't go back," Jinx said skeptically. "It would be suicide!"  
  
"So what, we just sit here and save ourselves?! I thought I showed you better than that, Jinx!" Ahsoka snapped at him. How could he be so selfish?! Before Jinx could retort, an urgent beeping filled the room. The Jedi all turned to look at Ventress, who was rifling through a pocket on her tunic. She pulled out a communicator, shrugged at them, and answered it.  
  
"I'm a little busy at the moment, so make it fast," she said. The annoyance in her eyes slowly turned to interest as she listened. A few tension-wracked seconds passed, then Asajj dropped the comm next to her.  
  
"As entertaining as this is, apparently _Lord Sidious_ is delivering a message to the Senate right now that we'll be interested in." She reached forward and touched a few controls on the table, and before long a hazy image resolved over the center of it. Even though the fuzziness of the cheap projector, the Chancellor's podium in the Senate chamber was immediately recognizable. Palpatine wasn't however, he was in a pause in his speech, wearing a voluminous crimson robe, the cowl pulled up and draping his face in shadow.  _Looks like he's not even trying to hide it anymore,_ Ahsoka thought bitterly, but all her thoughts died when he began to speak.  
  
 _"The Jedi, and some within our own Senate, had conspired to create the shadow of Separatism using one of their own as the enemy's leader. They had hoped to grind the Republic into ruin. But the hatred in their hearts could not be hidden forever. At last, there came a day when our enemies showed their true natures."_  
  
That was not the voice of Supreme Chancellor Palpatine. The kindly, firm, somewhat tired voice that Ahsoka and the rest of the galaxy had come to know and trust over the last decade was gone. Palpatine's voice was raspy, deep, slimy. It oozed with the Dark Side, it was all the power and spite of a thousand years of Sith Lords embodied in a single sound. It was the voice of Ahsoka's nightmares, of every nameless fear she had ever had. The voice of darkness. Of  _evil_. She was so consumed by the pure repulsiveness of him that she hadn't been listening to what he was saying, until his voice rose to a shout and snapped her out of it.  
  
 _"The remaining Jedi will be hunted down and defeated! Any collaborators will suffer the same fate. These have been trying times, but we have passed the test. The attempt on my life has left me scarred and deformed,"_  
  
\- the camera zoomed in to show a close up in his face, which looked as though it had melted and aged a thousand years, while his eyes shone the sickly yellow that came with deep immersion in the dark side -  
  
 _"But I assure you my resolve has never been stronger! The war is over. The Separatists have been defeated, and the Jedi rebellion has been foiled. We stand on the threshold of a new beginning. In order to ensure our security and continuing stability, the Republic will be reorganized into the FIRST! GALACTIC! EMPIRE! For a safe and secure society!"_  
  
Palpatine stopped and slowly raised his arms over his head, letting the roar of applause from the Senate wash over him. They were applauding it! What was wrong with them?! Suddenly, the image cut out. Bewildered, Ahsoka wondered if they had lost power. It took a moment for her to realize she had reached out and slammed the power control with the Force, as though she subconsciously thought not seeing it would make it stop. It didn't work, she could still  _feel_  him, a pit of darkness so strong she could feel it from halfway across the planet. No one protested her shutting it off, not even Ventress. All of them sat there in a silence that seemed to stretch on for all eternity.  
  
A thought began to take shape in Ahsoka's mind. But no, it had begun to take shape when Chuchi had first told her to run, had slowly grown stronger throughout the night, until now the Chancellor's -  _Emperor's_  - declaration had emboldened the thought and made it demand to be heard. But as the words escaped her lips, she realized that it had truly begun long before the night the world fell apart. The first whispers of it had started inside her nearly a year ago, when Anakin reached out his hand and offered her life back to her.  
  
"Barriss was right."

Ahsoka's declaration snapped the others out of their stupor, and they all turned to looked at her like she had grown a fourth lekku.  
   
Shaak Ti was the first to find her words. "Ahsoka, what Barriss did was-"  
   
"Horrible, yes, I know," Ahsoka cut her off. "I know that better than anyone. But she was right, she saw this was happening!" Ahsoka stood up and began pacing rapidly. "Do you remember what she said when she confessed, Master? I couldn't forget it if I tried."  
   
 _Which I have._  
  
"An army fighting for the Dark Side, fallen from the light we once held so dear," Ahsoka quoted. Where Barriss had shouted indignantly, Ahsoka said the words flatly, trying to detach them from the pain they represented. It didn't work very well. "This Republic is failing. It's only a matter of time." She looked up at Shaak Ti. "I'm almost glad she didn't live to see how little time it was."  
   
Ahsoka expected Shaak Ti to reply, but instead Asajj did. "You've got a point there Tano." Ventress grimaced. "She might have been a backstabbing, robbing  _schutta_ , but she had more sense in her than the rest of you. Even if it made her snap like a twig. But she's still a  _dead_  backstabbing schutta. So why are you wasting breath on her?"  
   
Ahsoka went back over to the couch and fell into the seat, letting all the air out of her in a deep sigh. "She was my friend. I doubt you've ever had one Ventress, but even you have to realize that I can't just forget about her, even if I want to. It's like you said Master," she gestured towards Shaak. "How could anyone find out the truth and not lose their mind? Fives lost it, Barriss lost it, I don't even know if I'm not losing it." Ahsoka felt a wetness streaking down her cheek, and raised a hand to wipe the tear away. It broke the last defense she'd had holding herself together, and she started sobbing for the first time in years, her face falling into her hands while her entire body shook in tune with the raw emotion pouring out of her. She barely felt Jinx reach a comforting arm around her, or Gungi's wide hand on her shoulder.  
   
Shaak Ti came over and kneeled beside her. "Ahsoka, I'm so sorry. You're right, if we had just payed attention to…" She choked strangely on her words, " _Barriss_ , then she might never have fallen. But Ventress is right too, even though I wouldn't have put it so crudely. You've got to focus on what's happening now or we'll all be lost. Just let it out, and then move on." Ahsoka let the deluge continue on until she felt like she was empty inside. As the last of the tears subsided, she looked up to see Shaak's face not far from her own, compassion shining in her eyes.  
   
"What happened to controlling our emotions, then?" She actually managed a smile, even though the effect was ruined by her bloodshot eyes.  
   
Shaak returned it, equally devoid of real joy. "Well, the release of emotions can take many forms." She got more serious, the empathy in her eyes giving way to sorrow. "And this ordeal has taught me that those teachings may have been too strict." The odd look was gone as quickly as it appeared, and Shaak Ti stood up. "But like I said, we need to plan our next move."  
   
Ahsoka sat up straight, fighting off the last vestiges of despair. She was surprised to notice that there wasn't the slightest trace of mockery in Asajj's expression; the bounty hunter was pointedly not making eye contact.  
   
"Well, like I was saying before his newly Imperial majesty interrupted us," Ahsoka began. "We've got to go to the Temple and reprogram that beacon."  
   
Gungi moaned skeptically. Jinx sighed and continued his own argument. "I still think it sounds like a suicide mission. And don't bring up Wasskah, you  _know_  this is different."  
   
"It may not be suicide," Shaak mused. "It is likely that most of the troops stationed there were called away for Palpatine's  _coronation_. If we moved quickly, we could sneak in without attracting notice."  
   
"Well, I'm still not setting foot in there again," Jinx said. "Even if there's no clones, the bodies will still be there." The young Twi'lek shuddered, gripping his borrowed lightsaber tightly. "You don't understand it Ahsoka, you weren't there! Everyone else is dead. My master is dead. I didn't even see her die, but I felt it." He closed his eyes. "And so is O-Mer. I saw the clones shoot him down."  
   
Ahsoka felt like he had kicked her in the abdomen. She had suspected all along, even if she hadn't admitted it to herself.  _I'm so sorry, O-Mer. I failed you and I failed Kalifa. I couldn't keep you safe._  
"It's alright Jinx, you don't have to," she said, trying to hide her newest anguish. "It would be too dangerous for you and Gungi anyway."  
   
 _You're going to live, all of you. I won't let you die._  
   
"She's right Jinx," said Shaak Ti. "You all stay here with Katooni, I'll go."  
   
Ahsoka looked at her skeptically. "Master, you're wounded. You're in no shape to go sneaking behind enemy lines, and Katooni needs you." The idea that the  _Jedi Temple_  was now behind enemy lines was nauseating.  
   
"Ahsoka, you should not go at all," Shaak Ti said, not unkindly. "Alone even less. I worry about how you may handle it."  
   
Before Ahsoka could protest that she'd been on dozens of battlefields and she could handle it  _easily_ , Asajj surprised them all. "I'll go with her." She looked exasperated by the way they all stared at her. "What? I've always wanted to see the inside of the Jedi Temple."  
   
Ahsoka was sure that even the unconscious Katooni could tell that it was a thin excuse. Had Asajj actually started caring, despite herself? It was what Ahsoka had hoped for since she had first partnered with her one-time enemy, but she made herself stay skeptical. This was still Asajj Ventress, after all.  
   
"Well I guess that's settled then," Ahsoka said. "Ventress and I will sneak back in, reset the beacon, and then get out of there. It'll be simple." She stood up, slinging the empty rucksack over her shoulder. She didn't know why, but she felt like she should take it.  
   
"Ahsoka..." Jinx started to say something, but then he seemed to change his mind. "May the Force be with you."  
   
She winked at him, hoping it came off more confident than it felt. "Don't worry about me, I'll be back before you know it." Asajj was waiting at the door now, and Ahsoka began walking towards her.  
 

Jinx's words echoed in her mind.

 _Everyone else is dead!_    
   
 _My Master is dead!_  
   
 _Everyone is dead!_  
   
She couldn't stand it anymore. She had to ask - no, Ahsoka had to  _know_  what happened. She stopped in her tracks and looked over her shoulder at Master Ti.  
   
"Just one more thing before I go," she started uneasily. "I - I've got to know. Have you seen Anakin since this all started? Do you know what's… happened to him?"  
   
There was a long pause before Shaak Ti answered, a pause so still that Ahsoka could hear her own heartbeat.  
   
"No. I haven't seen Skywalker since before the attack," Shaak Ti looked down at Katooni as she spoke.  
   
Ahsoka swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat. "I'll find him. If anyone can survive this, he can." She turned back towards Ventress, and as she passed through the door Asajj pressed the speeder control into her hand.  
   
"Go ahead and get the speeder warmed up," Asajj said. "I'll be along in just a minute."  
 

* * *

   
As soon as the door had sealed shut behind Tano, Asajj rounded on the Jedi. "You know what Ti? You're lucky she wanted to believe you, because you're a terrible liar." She quickly closed the gap, halting right in front of the Jedi Master. "Skywalker's dead, isn't he?" As the Jedi looked up at her, Asajj did not have to wait for an answer. It was written plainly on her face. "Pathetic. Looks like you still haven't learned your lesson."  
   
"I've learned a more terrible lesson than you could possibly imagine," Shaak Ti said in a tone harder than iron. "Ahsoka will learn the truth about Skywalker on her own soon enough, if she goes into the Temple. But until then the hope that she can save him is the only thing that's keeping her going."  
   
Asajj made a noise of pure disgust. "Oh yes, I'm sure she'll appreciate that bit of wisdom of yours when she finds his charred corpse. You lying _schutta_ , she deserves better than this." Asajj hadn't meant to add the last part, and had no idea what corner of her mind it came from. Probably the same part that got her into this mess.  
   
Ti closed her eyelids and Asajj felt a faint sense of guilt briefly slip through the Jedi's mental shields. "She does. I wish it didn't have to be this way."  
   
 _Hypocritical piece of rancor drek._  "Of course you don't," she said, then stormed out of the room. As much as she hated to admit it, Shaak Ti had a point. Tano worshiped Anakin Skywalker to the point that Asajj wondered if the girl wouldn't just shut down completely when she found out he was dead. She had half a mind to tell her the truth, but quickly decided not to. Tano would never believe it from her. In fact, she probably wouldn't believe it from the Jedi either. Asajj didn't care that Skywalker was dead; if anything she was a little upset that now she couldn't do it herself. But if she had to pull a catatonic Togruta off of his corpse, she was going to shove a lightsaber through Shaak Ti's lying teeth when she got back, what Ahsoka thought about it be damned. She might just leave Tano there to join her Master, for that matter.  
   
Asajj walked out into the alleyway to see Ahsoka sitting in the speeder's pilot chair, attempting to project an aura of calm and failing miserably at it. Asajj strapped in next to her and Tano took off without a word.  _Just see if I don't abandon her in there,_  Ventress thought as the stale Coruscant air whipped over her smooth head. She could leave Tano for dead, pilfer some artifacts that would sell on the black market, and ditch the other Jedi. She'd take that old starfighter into the outer rim and never look back.  _Why should I care what happens to her?_ she thought. Waves of anxiety rolled off the Togruta in question. Asajj looked away from her and gazed over the dilapidated cityscape. She would have sighed if she was sure Tano wouldn't overhear.  _Why do I care about what happens to her?_


	7. Homecoming

Asajj was gaining a new appreciation for all the different ways a sewer could reek. The night before she hadn't gone more than a few meters inside, and had been too angry at Tano for collecting strays to even notice it. Now the Jedi dropout had been leading her through the fetid damp tunnel - which was so dark she couldn't see more than two meters ahead - for ages, and if they didn't get into the Temple soon she might start seriously consider just slipping away. But just as that thought hit her, Ahsoka stopped next to what looked like a maintenance access.  
   
"Through here," she explained before Asajj could ask. Asajj followed her over to it, but Tano hesitated, her hand hovering next to the door release.  
  
"What are you waiting for?" Asajj said. "There someone on the other side?"  
  
"No," Ahsoka said, and Asajj thought she felt a pang of regret drift off her through the Force. Asajj was just about to open the door herself when Ahsoka slammed her hand against the control and rushed through. The lighting inside was dim, but after the near-darkness of the sewer it still took a moment for Asajj's eyes to adjust. When they did, she did a double take. The room beyond was filled with the bodies of Republic clone troopers, what looked like an entire platoon and change. Ahsoka stood in a clearing in the center that was conspicuously void of corpses and though her back was turned, Asajj could tell from the trembling of her shoulders that Tano was not holding up well. She'd expected this for Jedi, but for  _clones_?  
Asajj cleared her throat. "This where you found the Jedi?"  
  
It took a moment for Ahsoka to respond, and when she did she was struggling to keep her breathing under control. "Yeah."  
  
If they had tried to kill her friends, why was she so torn up about their deaths? Was she that much of a bleeding-heart? "I take it you killed them?"  
  
"The ones in the hall," Ahsoka said, forcing the words out.  
  
Asajj walked over the dead clones to stand next to her, looking down the hallway she'd indicated. The lighting in there was much brighter, and she saw that the white armor of the corpses was adorned with blue markings.  _Blue…_ she tried to place which clone unit that identified. She'd definitely seen it before. When she did, she felt her gut churn.  
  
Skywalker.  
  
That was it: she had served with them. It wasn't just that Tano's friends were massacred, Asajj realized: Tano's friends were massacring  _each other_. If Palpatine had been there at that moment, she would have spat in his face, consequences be damned. That was more than anyone should have to go through, even a Jedi. At least when Asajj was betrayed she'd had no qualms about fighting droids. You couldn't develop camaraderie with a machine that only had two modes: kill and don't kill. It seemed like Tano just had no luck at all when it came to friends.  
   
Maybe she would learn soon that it was better not to have them.  
  
The silence from Ahsoka was getting uncomfortable. "This the way in?" she asked, snapping her companion out of her guilt-trip.  
  
"Yes," Ahsoka said. She abruptly started walking down it, desperate to put the scene behind her. Asajj moved to follow, but then she got an idea.  
  
"Hold on," she said, kneeling beside one of the clones.  
  
"What are you doing?"  
  
Asajj worked at the latches on the armor's right gauntlet. "Getting one of their communicators. We'll be able to listen in, avoid any patrols they have inside." A few sharp tugs, and the gauntlet came loose, the dead weight of the arm thudding heavily against the ground. She slid it onto her own arm and activated the communicator. Unexpectedly, it beeped an error.  
  
"Blast," she muttered, looking up at Tano. "This is a new feature. It's asking for his ID number."  
  
Ahsoka took a long look at the body, her face contorting as she fought back her pain.  
"CT-2183," she said softly, quickly turning away from Asajj and continuing down the hall.   
   
Ventress felt herself grimace, and unsurprisingly the number turned out to be correct. She followed Tano down the corridor, configuring the comm to alert her when another active signal came within a hundred meters of them. Ahsoka was back to being silent; Asajj had been around enough Jedi before to know that she was trying to release her feelings, probably repeating some snippet of Jedi dogma in her mind that was supposed to make the pain go away. How did it go?  _Death isn't real, only the Force?_  That part of Ky's teachings had been buried for so long she could hardly remember it. It didn't work anyway, Asajj had learned that after Ky died. Dead was dead.  
  
Damn it, she hoped they got into the Temple soon, she needed a distraction. Even if that distraction was dealing with her former enemy's emotional breakdown. If Tano was losing it over the clones now, she would be a basket case when they started finding dead Jedi. Especially if it was Skywalker. She hoped that he'd had the decency to die in a way that left his corpse burned beyond recognition. If Tano recognized it then Asajj might end up killing her after all, if only to put her out of her misery.   
   
And her own misery of having to watch it.  
  
The tunnel was going on for a long time. It must be some sort of evacuation route, she decided. It didn't look very old, it must have been built after Dooku had left the Order. If he had known about it, he would have used it somehow.  
  
"How much longer is it?" she snapped.  
  
Ahsoka looked at her with a vacant expression. "Not much. What's the hurry?"  
  
 _Oh there's only an entire planet's worth of Sidious' pawns out there hunting us down. That's all._  "I want to get this over with almost as much as you," she said. Why had she even come along on this fool's errand? She didn't give a flying kriff if more Jedi fell into the trap.  
  
"I doubt it," she heard Tano mutter.  
  
 _Bitterness doesn't suit you,_ she thought. She didn't say anything, and they continued in silence. Eventually, the tunnel started to angle upward steeply enough that stairs were built into it. At the top of the incline was a blast door that had sealed shut.  
  
"There don't seem to be any controls," said Asajj. She glanced at Ahsoka, who stood hesitantly in front of the blast door.  
  
"Normally it's on the inside," Ahsoka said. She ran her hand along its surface. "Found it."  
  
Nothing happened.  
  
Asajj crossed her arms. "You going to just stand there?"  
  
Tano took a step back and gave her an annoyed look. "It's not working. Shaak Ti must have sealed it behind her."  
  
"Wish I could say I was surprised she didn't mention it," Asajj said. She reached down and pulled the lightsaber off her belt. "Just wait a moment."  
  
Asajj plunged the golden blade into the door...or rather, she would have, but it refused to penetrate more than a few centimeters. She pushed harder, but the metal still stubbornly resisted the bar of plasma.  
  
"Still waiting," Ahsoka spoke up.  
  
Asajj pulled the saber out and glared at her, noting Tano's small smirk. She  _almost_  missed the depressed version of the girl; at least she wasn't obnoxious. "Must be cortosis or something. Looks like the Jedi are better at making doors than they are at making Jedi."  
  
Ahsoka disappointed her by not taking the bait. "Let's do it manually." She raised her hands and furrowed her brow in intense concentration. "You going to help me, or what?"  
  
Asajj followed suit, willing the door to move. Even working together, it took them several minutes to wedge the two massive slabs of metal apart enough for them to squeeze through.  
  
"After you," Asajj said. Ahsoka hesitated for a short moment before taking a deep breath and stepping through. Ventress was right behind her. They came out inside in a small storage room. A few shelves were knocked over, scattering spare parts all over the floor. The door behind them appeared to be a wall when closed, the door ahead was blasted open, part of it hung off the hinges and the rest slagged on the ground. Beyond it she could see the burned-out husks of starfighters - they must be next to the hangar. Her senses were assaulted by the stench of smoke, ozone, and what smelled suspiciously like charred meat.  
  
Ahsoka already looked unnaturally pale, and they hadn't even run into any bodies yet.  _Just wonderful,_  Asajj thought.  _Why did I agree to this in the first place?_  
  
"You know the way to the archives?" she asked.

"Yeah," Ahsoka said with deceptive calm. "Just...follow me."  
They hadn't gone a meter into the hangar before Ahsoka almost tripped over a clone trooper's corpse, slashed shoulder to hip. Probably Ti's work, or one of the runts. The hangar was almost impassible. Blast craters pockmarked the deck. Hulks of airspeeders, starfighters, and even Republic military gunships were burning. The clones must have bombed it from the outside to prevent any escape from it. Through the haze of smoke, Asajj could spot a few bodies that were so badly burned she couldn't tell if they were clones or Jedi. Only the ones nearest to the wall was unscathed - aside from being dead, of course. Ahsoka was leaning over one of them now, a Pantoran man shredded by shrapnel.  
  
"Friend of yours?" Asajj asked, not unkindly. Ahsoka looked up from the corpse, looking completely bewildered.  
  
"He...he was one of the maintenance crew." A few indecipherable noises came out as Ahsoka's words seemed to fail her. A glint of fury began to shine in her eyes. "He wasn't even a Jedi! What did they kill him for?!"  
  
"Will you keep your voice down?!" Asajj hissed. "Do you want to bring a legion down on us?"  
  
Ahsoka snarled like she had when she threatened to kill her, but didn't follow it up. "Fine," she spat. "Let's go." She paused only to close the man's unseeing eyes, and started for an exit that hadn't collapsed.  
  
 _Fantastic. She keeps this up, she'll turn out like me._  

It took longer than Asajj had expected for them to find another body that wasn't a clone. Apparently most of the Jedi had been away from their home when it was destroyed. Ahsoka was kneeling over the Jedi in question, who looked rather a lot like the maintenance worker they'd found in the hangar: light blue skin with yellow facial markings. His dark hair was close-cropped except for a Padawan's braid on one side. Asajj guessed that he was about the same age as Ahsoka.  
   
"His name was Tatsu Li," Ahsoka said. "He was in the same youngling clan as me, we used to study together..."  
   
 _I don't need his life story,_ Asajj thought.  _We don't have time for this._ But for some reason she kept quiet and watched Ahsoka close the boy's vacant eyes. Tano looked like she was about to stand up, but she seemed to change her mind at the last second. Instead she reached over and pried the lightsaber out of his right hand - which appeared to be a mechanical replacement. Tano turned the lightsaber over in her hands, studying its every detail.  
   
"He was the first one in our group to find his lightsaber crystal," she said. Her voice was hoarse, as if she had just come back from wandering in a desert. "We thought he was lucky. I was so jealous. I thought it should have been me." Tano cringed at the memory. She finally looked up and made eye contact with Asajj. "Your friend Savage took his hand off and his brother Mail killed Tatsu's Master." She stood up, still holding the fallen Jedi's lightsaber. "And now he's dead," she said bitterly. "I think now I know what they meant when they said there was no such thing as luck."  
   
Asajj wasn't sure if Tano expected her to say something or just listen. She didn't give a kark either way; Tatsu Li meant nothing to her. Even though she couldn't help but picture any number of Nightsister corpses in his place.  
   
"We should move," Asajj snapped, forcing the image out of her mind.  
   
Ahsoka glared at her, and her free hand twitched like it had instinctively tried to curl into a fist. "Sorry, I forgot who I was talking to." Tano turned away from her and stalked down the rubble-strewn hallway, stepping around her friend's body. She kept his lightsaber in her hand.  
   
Asajj moved to follow, but something about the body gave her pause. She crouched down to get a better look. With Tano partially blocking her vision before, Asajj had assumed the wound on his upper chest was a simple blaster shot, but this was the strangest blaster wound she had ever seen. It was less a hole and more of a gash, a deep chasm that spread across his heart. He must have been shot at from the side...but in this corridor, how would he have had his side to the enemy? They could only have been at his front or his back, unless he had been facing the wall like a complete moron. It didn't make any sense...  
   
"I thought you were in a hurry?" Tano called back at her in an acidic tone.  
   
Ventress returned the Togruta's equally-acidic glare. "I was just coming."  
   
As they continued through the rubble and corpse-strewn passage. Asajj's thoughts drifted back to that wound. There was definitely something wrong about it, but for the life of her she couldn't place it. It was maddening, so she tried focusing on something else. The Jedi were gone. Finished. Dead! She should be celebrating, like she had the day Dooku died. She should be happy, or as close as she ever got to it. But everything about it just felt wrong. This place was meant to house ten thousand beings, and now it was utterly silent. Instead of smug satisfaction, she felt downright anxious. Everything about the Temple had her on edge. Wind mournfully whistling through a shattered window sent a chill down her spine, the distant sound of rubble hitting the stone floor made her muscles tense, even Tano's uneven breathing grated on her nerves. Asajj wasn't one for superstition - she had inwardly scoffed at some of the Nightsisters' more arcane rituals - but despite that one thing was growing clear.  
   
The Jedi Temple felt downright haunted.  
   
She couldn't celebrate this, she decided as she followed Tano around an intersection and spotted another dead Jedi. Watching the ex-Jedi react to her own crushing loss just made it hit too close to home. She would have laughed at the irony, except she suspected Tano would get the wrong idea and try to murder her for it. As she got closer she noticed a glimpse of brown robes and reddish skin; there was a second Jedi. The body was buried under so many dead clones that they formed a morbid plastoid-armored cairn concealing it from view. Tano had knelt over the other, a woman of a green-skinned humanoid species that Asajj didn't recognize. Tano was visibly trembling this time, and Ventress thought she was about to lose it.

But it turned out she was tougher than Asajj gave her credit for. Without another word she picked up the Jedi's lightsaber, pulled her free arm out of her backpack's strap, swung it around, and deliberately placed the weapon inside it. Asajj assumed the first Jedi's blade was already inside.  
   
Asajj raised an eyebrow. "Starting a collection?"  
   
Tano glared at her again, but it seemed weaker, like some of the fire had gone out of her. "Palpatine will probably melt them down for scrap or something if I left them here," she said. "I'd burn the bodies too if we had time."  
   
Asajj bent over and reached between the armored bodies, feeling around for a few seconds until her fingers closed around a familiar-feeling cylinder. She pulled the lightsaber free and offered it to Tano.  
   
Tano's eyebrow markings shot up in surprise, and she seemed hesitant to take it from her.  
   
"Just take it already," Asajj snapped at her. This was why she didn't usually do nice things: everyone assumed she had some ulterior motive. She usually  _did,_ but still.  
   
Tano listened and grabbed it from her. She looked it over briefly before placing it in the bag. "Thanks. Do you think you could help me move some of these?" She gestured at the pile that the lightsaber had come from. "I couldn't tell whose it was."  
   
Asajj shrugged and started lifting bodies - and parts of bodies - off with the Force, tossing them off to the side. With the two of them working together - Ahsoka taking much more care with the clone bodies than Asajj - it took less than a minute to uncover the Jedi. She had the aquatic features of a Mon Calamari, but beyond that Asajj had no idea who she was.  
   
Ahsoka on the other hand was wincing like someone had kicked her in the stomach. "She was Jinx's master." Asajj's confusion must have showed, because after a moment Ahsoka added: "The Twi'lek that came with me."  
   
 _Ah._  The kid had said something about losing his master, she remembered. Before she could stop herself, the image of Ky's body leaped into her mind's eye. The Mon Cal Jedi even had a blaster wound through the heart, the same way he had…  
   
Blaster wound.  
   
How could she have been so blind? A quick check over the Clone bodies confirmed her realization. One of them was slashed through the heart by a lightsaber; the wound was exactly the same as the one on Tatsu Li that had vexed her so. She'd expected to see these sorts of wounds on the clones. But when she'd seen one on a Jedi, it hadn't even registered what she was looking at.  
   
Tatsu Li had been killed by a  _lightsaber_.  
   
She looked up at Tano, who had begun moving again. Asajj's mind was reeling with the implications as she followed. Someone with a lightsaber had led this attack, she was sure of it. But who could it have been? Palpatine himself? That was just absurd, he was never that hands-on. Dooku was dead, but maybe Sidious had a new apprentice? Perhaps his old one, that half-dead animal Maul? She dismissed the idea as soon as she thought of it. He wasn't likely to follow his old master after he'd left him for dead - and certainly not if the rumors she had heard out of Dathomir were true. Savage Opress was dead on Mandalore, Sora Bulq was dead on Boz Pity, and she couldn't think of a single dark-side user other than those three who was powerful enough to fill Dooku's position.  
   
Tano stopped over another Jedi, some kind of reptilian species that Asajj couldn't begin to recognize. She said something identifying him, but Asajj was too busy checking his wounds for it to register. There was absolutely no mistaking this one; someone had brutally stabbed him in the abdomen. Tano did not seem to notice at all. She probably didn't want to; if she paid attention to it then she would come to the same conclusion that Asajj had.  
   
One of the Jedi had turned traitor.  
   
Someone powerful that Palpatine had contact with before this attack. One of the masters sent to kill him? That idea was ludicrous. Sith Apprentice Windu? Fisto? Tiin? It was more likely that the attack had was led by Asajj herself while sleepwalking than it was that one of those hardasses had joined with Sidious. She did not know much about Kolar, but that meant he was probably not worthy of notice. Sidious would want someone powerful, more powerful than Dooku had been. Some Jedi she didn't even know the species of couldn't fit that bill. Quinlan Vos seemed a good candidate; he'd been on the Separatist side for a good part of the war anyway, not all of that darkness could have been faked…  
   
Another dead Jedi; killed by clones, this time. This one was a Cerean - just a kid, really - shot through the chest far more times than were necessary to kill him. Ahsoka paid no more attention to his wounds than she had to the others. He was dead, and she didn't need to look at the details. It was just like Shaak Ti's blatant lies about Skywalker, she would see what she wanted to-  
   
Asajj froze mid-thought.

Anakin Skywalker.  
   
 _Oh hell._  
 

* * *

  
   
Ahsoka knew she had to do this, was absolutely certain of it. The lives of whatever few Jedi remained depended on her success. But as she knelt over the body of O-Mer, she was beginning to wish that she'd listened to Shaak Ti and Jinx. Every time she had found one of her friends lying dead in the defiled ruins of a place she had considered sacred - still considered sacred - she felt like a part of her was ripped away forever. Part of her was back there with the bodies of Tatsu, Rig Nema, Bant Eerin, and Coleman Kcaj. Now, was leaving part of herself with O-Mer. He'd survived so much; a year in the jungles of Wasskah, hunted every single day of it. Even though Jinx had already told her that he was dead, seeing it herself was too painful for words. And looking at his inert body reminded her of when she had looked at Kalifa the same way. She had made the girl a promise to keep the others safe. And she hadn't kept it. Jinx lived, but O-Mer, the one who had recovered a little optimism by the time they got out of there, was as dead as Kalifa herself.  
   
Outwardly she was blank, as emotionless as a Jedi Master. It was like her body had separated itself from her mind - or even that each death numbed her to the next, until by the time she got out of here she would be an emotionless husk. Maybe it wasn't as morbid as that, maybe the Jedi in her was just coming out in force. They weren't dead, they were one with the Force, right? Or perhaps part of her just didn't want to show that much emotion in front of Asajj Ventress. No, that was ridiculous; she cared nothing for what Ventress thought of her. Especially when Ventress herself was probably beside herself with joy at the sight of so many dead Jedi. The idea made her blood boil. At least the bog-witch was keeping it to herself now…  
   
 _Keep your focus on the here and now,_  she heard Anakin's voice remind her from long ago. She had to move on. Ahsoka gave one last, lingering touch on O-Mer's tall forehead, then with her other hand she picked up the lightsaber that lay beside him. It wasn't even his, she knew. O-Mer had never built his own and now he never would. But it was still something to remember him by, and a trophy she denied Palpatine.  
   
She left O-Mer behind, and Ventress followed her in silence. The temple corridors were in a terrible state. Blaster burns covered the walls, columns and entire hallways had collapsed, the stone floors were a maze of rubble. In her memories a skinny Togruta youngling ran through these halls when they were spotless, racing against her friends to see who could circuit the Temple the fastest. She envied that girl. That youngling thought she knew everything. One day she would be a Jedi Knight. The Jedi always stood by each other as they defended the weak. The Republic they served was a beacon of civilization in the galaxy. And both of them, the Jedi and the Republic, would always be there. She remembered something one of her instructors had said to her initiate class years ago:  _"Truth enlightens the mind, but won't always bring happiness to your heart."_  She had dismissed it entirely then. Now she understood it all too well.  
   
Ahsoka almost tripped on a piece of the partially collapsed ceiling, jarring her out of the recollection. She mentally slapped herself for getting lost like that. Those memories were even more bittersweet now than they had been after she left the Order; dwelling on them would lead to to worse things. She cleared the thoughts from her mind as best as she could.  _Here and now._  Left at the next junction to get to the archives. Through the archives to get to the beacon. Modify the signal to warn everyone away.

At the next juncture she turned left, and stopped in her tracks. The corridor in front of her, the smashed windows along the left side, the rubble and smoke…  
   
She'd seen it before. Ahsoka had seen the exact hallway before, in almost the same state of ruin. On Ilum.  
   
Ahsoka felt weak at the knees. She quickly went over to one of the columns separating the windows, leaning against it for support. She had let herself forget much of that vision, she had tried her hardest to forget it. It had seemed needlessly cruel, making her think that Barriss could be saved when she was dying at that same moment. But now she realized it had been so much more than that. The Force had shown her the future, and she was too blind to see it. Her mind added the bodies of the masters and Barriss' chained form, along with the ice and snow that had covered the dream-version, everything the real thing lacked. Everything except for the disturbing, terrifying vision of Anakin and herself that had been part of the vision, the part that had made no sense at all. She thought that the Force must hate her, to show her that. She must have defied its will by leaving the Jedi; she had been meant to die here, beside her master…  
   
 _No!_ Anakin was not dead! She would have felt it, she had not felt it, he was still alive somewhere. She shoved aside the doubt that plagued her, the whisper that maybe she had felt his death when she had collapsed helplessly in Chuchi's apartment. He was not dead, and wherever he was in the galaxy, she would find him.  
   
"What's wrong?" Ventress asked beside her. The way she looked at Ahsoka, she was almost convinced that Ventress was actually worried about her. Like that could ever happen.  
   
"Nothing," Ahsoka lied. "I just needed a moment. It's not much farther."  
   
Ventress looked highly skeptical, but rather than argue she nodded. "If you say so."  
   
Ahsoka took a steadying breath, and as she stood up straight and began moving forward again, she couldn't help but glance out of the window. Outside and down a level was the meditation area that had been one of her favorite spots in the Temple. The enclosed courtyard and the ancient tree that dominated it was surprisingly untouched by the destruction. She paid it no mind, and continued down the corridor. A moment later something drew her gaze back to it, but she looked away again too quickly to see anything else.  _Focus on the task at hand._  
   
Just put one foot in front of the other.  
   
The corridor was quite long, and she couldn't run down it for fear of tripping or attracting attention. Ventress' clone communicator was still silent, but that could change at any moment.  
   
She glanced out the window, again looking away before she saw anything else.  
   
 _Task at hand. Here and now._

Her willpower failed her; she looked again. This time she couldn't have torn her gaze away if her life depended on it.  
   
There were bodies down there.  
   
She had stopped walking forward completely now, and her body moved closer to the shattered window even as her mind screamed at her to run away.  
   
They weren't very large bodies.  
   
She was dimly aware of Ventress asking her something, but all of her attention was focused on one of the bodies, one that lay completely out in the open, face down.  
   
Her stomach turned to lead. That wasn't who she thought it was, it couldn't be.  
   
 _No._  
  
She was outside on the terrace now, running towards it.  
   
 _Oh Force, no._  
  
Ventress' swearing and footsteps behind her went completely over her head, all she heard was her own heart racing.  
   
 _No no no no no no!_

She jumped down into the courtyard and the edges of her vision blurred as she sprinted towards the center where the body lay, heedless of the risk a patrol would spot her.  
   
 _No no no no no no!_  
  
The back of his head was covered by short, black hair, and his skin was the color of light copper.  
   
 _Please don't please don't please don't!_  
  
She reached the body and turned it over, staring into his lifeless green eyes.  
   
Ahsoka wanted to scream so loud that they would hear her on the other side of Coruscant.  
   
It was Petro.  
   
She looked away frantically, and everything she saw only made it worse.  
   
Zatt was lying against the tree itself, his solid black eyes drilling into her. She looked away, only to see Ganodi lying only a few meters from her, head turned away. She turned away, and saw Byph's corpse near the entrance into the Temple. In the doorway itself was a figure that took her far too long to recognize in her gut-wrenching terror.  
   
Tera Sinube.  
   
She found herself staring down at Petro again. She was petrified, she couldn't move if her life depended on it.  
   
 _Why?_  
  
The simple thought appeared in her head, its small voice echoing through her.  _Why?_  
  
"Tano!" Asajj hissed from behind her. "What the hell are you doing?!"  
   
She didn't answer. She couldn't make her mouth work. She was just...empty. She wasn't angry, she wasn't sad. She was empty.  
   
"Tano!"

There was nothing left for her to give, nothing left of her that the Sith's triumph over the galaxy could take away. She felt as dead on the inside as any of the bodies around her.  
   
"We can't stay in the open like this!"  
   
They were just kids.  
   
"If you don't snap out of it, I'm leaving you here!"  
   
She should have been here.  
   
" _Ahsoka!_ "  
   
She should have died with the rest of them, she had abandoned them, she was the worst Jedi, the worst person in the galaxy-  
   
"I'm..." Venterss said, her voice trailing off and softening. "I'm sorry."  
   
That got Ahsoka's attention. She stared at Ventress, her mind gone blank with shock.  
   
"No you're not," Ahsoka said. She was not angry or accusing, she was just stating a fact. "You don't care." This time there was some venom in her words, but she still felt oddly calm. The words came out of her on their own accord, she had no control of them. "You came with me so you could laugh at this. That's the only reason you're helping any of us. You want to watch us suffer. You might as well still be a Sith, you're no better than them."  
   
She felt a sharp pain on her cheek and the next thing she knew she was on the ground. Her side smacked heavily against the granite floor. She sat up quickly, turning around to stare at Ventress. One of her hands went up to where Ventress had hit her, and she could feel the skin inflaming beneath her touch.  
   
"You know  _nothing_!" Ventress looked almost as shocked at her own sincerity as Ahsoka was. "You don't know anything about me, Tano! I know what you're going through! I know exactly what you're thinking right now! Because that's my life! I get ripped away from the people I care about, and they all die! Every. Single. Time! That's what I do, I lose people! You'll find out someday now, that when you've gone through that, watching it happen to other people," she hesitated, like she wanted to say something but couldn't.  
   
After a moment she forced it out. "It's like it's happening to you all over again. Even if I despise the Jedi, even if they were a bunch of self-righteous, hypocritical bastards, this-" she gestured around them, "-is one of the most disturbing things I've ever seen, and I've seen things you wouldn't believe. I'd let you sit here grieving for the Jedi all damn day, but if you do that then you're going to join them by the end of it, and for some Force-forsaken reason that I don't even know I don't want that to happen!"  
   
Ahsoka didn't know what to say. What had happened to the galaxy, to make this situation was even possible?  
   
Ventress plainly could not believe what she'd said either. "Look," she said, trying to regain her usual attitude. "Let's go reset this beacon of yours." She awkwardly extended her hand. Ahsoka stared at it for a moment before she realized that Ventress was trying to help her up.  
   
Ahsoka took the hand, and Ventress pulled her up. "I'm sorry," Ahsoka said, but Ventress cut her off.  
   
"Don't." Just like that, the window was closed.  
   
Ahsoka reached down and closed Petro's eyes, taking his lightsaber and holding it in front of her. He had wanted to accomplish so much with it…  
   
"Goodbye, Petro," she said, dropping her backpack on the ground and placing it inside. She carried it with her over to Ganodi, picking up the Rodian girl's weapon. "Goodbye, Ganodi."

She went around to each of them, repeating the process.

"Goodbye, Zatt."  
   
"Goodbye, Byph."  
   
"Goodbye, Master Sinube."  
   
She would remember them all. It was the only thing that she could do now. The backpack was heavy when she put it back on.  
   
"Let's finish this," Ahsoka said. She did not look back.


	8. Casualty Report

The archives were in a better state than Ahsoka had expected. There was the same blaster scarring and shattered rubble that filled the rest of the Temple, but most of the holobooks were unscathed. Parts of it were so well-preserved that she almost expected to run into Jocasta Nu updating a database, or a bored Initiate on guard duty taking a quick nap when they thought nobody was looking.  
  
The only Jedi she did find were dead, of course. She came across eight that she was barely acquainted with, and judging from how they had fallen they must have attempted to destroy the archives rather than let them fall into the hands of the Sith. Unfortunately, they had failed…or maybe it  _was_  fortunate, Ahsoka thought. She was beginning to form an idea, but filed it away for after they had reset the beacon. She had to keep track of which row she was in. She had been lost in the archives when they were still completely intact, and the last thing she needed was to do so now.  
  
"What the hell is this?" Asajj blurted out suddenly. Ahsoka looked over her shoulder to see what had startled her. Ventress had stopped next to one of the few busts of the Lost Twenty that remained standing. It was one of the newer ones, its features still sharply defined as those of an older, bearded human man. Asajj looked at it like it was obscene, her familiar scowl on at full force.  
  
Ahsoka stepped over, reading the inscription beneath it aloud. "Jedi Master Dooku of Serenno. Apprenticed to Grand Master Yoda. Former member of the High Council. Master of Qui-Gon Jinn and Komari Vosa. Left the Order in good standing in the year nine-hundred sixty-eight after the Ruusan Reformation due to disagreements with the Jedi Council, taking up his family title of Count of Serenno. May the Force be with him." She could have almost recited that inscription from memory; as a youngling she had polished these busts countless times as punishment for some misbehavior.

  
Ventress' scowl deepened. "I can read what it says, Tano. What is it doing  _here_?"  
  
Ahsoka shrugged. "He was a Jedi Master once, they put it in when he left."  
  
Ventress rolled her eyes, managing to only look even more incredulous. "Sorry, what is it  _still_ doing here?"  
  
"It's to remember the Jedi that he used to be, not the man he became. They only remove these if the Jedi rejoins the Order." It had never happened, to her knowledge. It wasn't a decision made lightly - she knew that better than most. "He's not the only Sith Lord with a bust in here." Asajj's befuddlement was almost enough to put a smile on her face. Almost, but not enough.  
  
Ventress considered it for a moment, then shoved Dooku's bust off its pedestal, slowing its fall with the Force at the last second so a clang didn't echo throughout the Temple. Asajj smirked at it as it slid spinning across the floor.  
  
"Do you have one of those in here?" Ventress turned her smirk on Ahsoka.  
  
Ahsoka actually laughed this time, though it was short and somewhat bitter. "Oh no, those are only for Masters who leave the Order. There's only ever been twenty."  
  
Asajj scowled once again. "Of course they are," she muttered darkly under her breath. "They wouldn't want to remember what they did to you."  
  
Ahsoka ignored her companion's latest grudge against the Jedi, and tried to avoid thinking about it. She wasn't very successful.  _Jedi Master Ahsoka Tano_ …that had been her dream once. Instead she was a dropout who didn't even make Knight, and because of that she was one of the few who were still alive. If they did give busts in the archives to Padawans who left the Order, what would her's say? She could picture it now:  _Ahsoka Tano. Apprenticed to Anakin Skywalker, accomplished little, left the Order out of childish self-pity_. Wearily, she shut the image out. This was the last time or place to reflect on  _that_.  
  
They found another body along the way to the beacon who Ahsoka knew well. Jocasta Nu looked as peaceful in death as she had in life, even with her body tossed carelessly between two data towers. Ahsoka fought against recalling any more painful memories as she picked up Master Jocasta's lightsaber and put it away. What was one more friend to say goodbye to, after all she had already seen?  
  
"Goodbye, Madame Jocasta," she whispered.  
  
She was about to move away when she felt a tremor that stopped her. She looked back down at Jocasta and heard a strange sound that was eerily musical.  
  
"Do you hear that?" Ahsoka asked.  
  
Ventress looked at her in confusion. "No?"  
  
Ahsoka crouched down, and the sound intensified. As it got louder she realized that she had heard it before, on the frozen world where she had gotten the crystals for all three of the lightsabers she had wielded over the years. She felt through Master Nu's pockets, slightly guilty at the violation of her corpse. The guilt vanished when her hand brushed against a small, hard object. Ahsoka pulled it out and held it in the light.  
  
Ventress stepped over to get a look at it. "What's that?"  
  
It was similar to a lightsaber crystal, but it was smaller and shaped more regularly. "It's a holocron crystal," Ahsoka said. "It carries data on it that can only be read with one of the holocrons."  
  
Her earlier idea began to grow. Ahsoka pocketed the crystal and motioned for Ventress to follow, which she did without comment. Beacon first. It took them another ten minutes or so to reach it - even with the advanced data-compression that the archives possessed, they were still physically massive. They entered the room housing the beacon, the soft blue light of the archive data towers giving way to a sickly green glow. The path narrowed considerably; this area was normally off-limits to all but maintenance crew. The only way in was a narrow corridor between two massive data towers.

Ahsoka hadn't been in here in years, so it took her some time to find the controls. When they did, a series of red "active" lights were flashing urgently.  
  
"Here it is," Ahsoka said, taking the chair in front of it. She tapped the console and read its readout, trying to find how exactly she could reprogram the beacon. As a Padawan, she'd never been trained on it. Maybe she should have let Shaak Ti come instead, she would have known how. And maybe it would have saved her all of that heartache…  
  
But the first thing that appeared on the screen was not at all what Ahsoka had expected.  


 

**_BEACON STATUS: ACTIVE_**

**_LAST MODIFIED: TODAY, 0806 STANDARD HOURS_**

**_MODIFIED BY: KENOBI, OBI-WAN_ **

 

Ahsoka glanced at the chrono. That had only been about three hours ago! Her breath caught in her chest and she pulled up the message that the beacon now broadcast.  


 

**_THIS IS OBI-WAN KENOBI_**

**_REPUBLIC FORCES HAVE BEEN TURNED AGAINST THE JEDI_**

**_AVOID CORUSCANT, AVOID DETECTION._**

**_STAY STRONG._**

**_MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU._ **

 

She motioned Ventress over, a feeling of excitement overpowering her emotional void. "Look at this! Someone got here before us!"  
  
Ventress read it quickly, and her eyes widened in surprise. Asajj let out a short laugh. "I should've known Kenobi would make it," she said, smirking. "That man is too stubborn to die. Think he's still around here?"  
  
Ahsoka stared at the screen, burning the simple words of warning into her memory. "I doubt it." Obi-Wan wouldn't want to stay here any more than she did. He would follow his own advice and get as far away from Coruscant as possible. And even if she never saw him again, just knowing that Obi-Wan was alive made hope stir inside her. If two members of the Council had made it, why not more? Why not Plo Koon, why not Yoda? Wherever Obi-Wan Kenobi had gone to avoid detection, they would never find him.  
  
Maybe he'd gone to look for Anakin.  
  
Ahsoka forced her imagination to stop. There was no use in getting her hopes up, only for them to be dashed again. She had thought those kids would be alive too…Ahsoka inhaled sharply.  _Stop it,_ she scolded herself.  
  
Mercifully, Ventress interrupted her thoughts. "So this was just a giant waste of time?" She half-smirked, half-scowled at the terminal.  
  
"Not entirely," Ahsoka said, standing up from the console. "I've got an idea."  
  
"Oh, this should be good." Ventress raised an eyebrow.  
  
Ahsoka ignored her and continued. "If I can get into the holocron vault, I can use that crystal to copy some of the archives onto one. Maybe I can save something of the Jedi from being destroyed by the Empire."  
  
Asajj scratched her chin. "I'm not sure why you'd want to," she said. The response on Ahsoka's face to  _that_  was enough to make her quickly add: "But I don't care what you want to do, go ahead. You know where they keep those things."  
  
Ahsoka glared a few seconds longer before she let herself relax. "Okay, it won't take long." She was a few meters down the path back before she realized Ventress was not following her. She stopped and looked over her shoulder to see that Asajj was sitting at the security terminal.  
  
"Ventress?"  
  
Asajj waved her hand dismissively without looking up. "Go take care of it, I want to check on something."

Ahsoka thought about asking, but something made her decide it was better not to. She left the data room and began double-timing it to the Holocron vault.  


* * *

  
Asajj pulled up the security records and played the last night's footage of the archives, backing it up until she saw a sequence that made her slam the pause button and swear a blue streak under her breath. Tano had been right after all, then. Anakin Skywalker  _was_  alive. He stood in front of her, in miniature translucent blue, skewering the older Jedi woman whose body they had passed on his lightsaber.  
  
This was bad. No, this was worse than bad, this was the worst case scenario. Of all the Jedi who could have defected, it had to be the one that had so much raw power that some idiot Jedi had actually thought he was created by the Force itself. And there was no mistaking it, Skywalker had fully embraced the Dark Side of the Force. His face was a mask of volcanic fury, and he did not hesitate to kill once.  
  
As she watched more of the recordings to see if Skywalker still had weaknesses to exploit, she realized that Sidious himself might not be able to stand against his new apprentice. Skywalker was a whirlwind of destruction that tore through the Jedi like they were paper. All but a handful of the fights were over in seconds. A woman wielding two green lightsabers nearly decapitated him once before Skywalker brought a column down on her, but nobody else even came close to touching him. She saw a duel between him and a long-haired human who put up the best fight, but even he was quickly overwhelmed and killed. Watching Skywalker slash through the Jedi's shoulder, Asajj had to admit that in a fight he would rip her apart now that he had become a Lord of the Sith. He had killed nearly a hundred Jedi in a matter of hours and hadn't even broken a sweat. They weren't exactly the elite of the Jedi, but it was still a stunning feat.  
  
A third Jedi had been able to stand her ground against him, and the sight of it filled Asajj with fury.  
  
 _Lying schutta!_  
  
Shaak Ti barely managed to escape from him, his weapon opening a gash on her arm in the process. Recalling the Jedi's words, she realized that Ti had never said Anakin was dead - as if the Togruta somehow thought that meant she wasn't lying about his fate. Typical Jedi. When she got back there, she was going to give the lying Master a piece of her mind…  
  
Asajj froze as the feed switched to the courtyard outside, filled with living Jedi apprentices. She slammed the control to switch cameras as soon as she saw Skywalker enter the frame.  
  
 _Damn it Skywalker, what the hell is wrong with you?_  
  
Studying his berserker tactics closer, she thought that maybe a real master of the blade could outlast Skywalker's onslaught until he did something stupid - the Dark Side couldn't have helped his intellect. But there were only a handful who had anything near a hope, and most of them were likely dead. Kenobi could probably do it, but Asajj doubted he had the stomach to fight his former apprentice. To think that she had dreaded Ahsoka's reaction to finding Skywalker  _dead_. If they found him  _alive…_ well, Tano wouldn't have long to be upset. Asajj knew what using the Dark Side like that did to someone - he would kill Tano without a second thought.  
  
Suddenly she became aware of an urgent beeping. Asajj looked up to find the souce only for comprehension to dawn on her. _Oh hell._ Groaning, she looked down again. It was the stolen communicator on her gauntlet. There were clones nearby. She shut off the security feed and unclipped her lightsaber, leaving it deactivated for now. As she ran back towards the Archives, distant blaster fire echoed down the halls. Asajj swore and ran in its direction. What had Tano stepped in this time?  


* * *

  
Ahsoka left the holocron vault, clutching the intricate crystalline cube in her hands. Surprisingly, they had all still been inside. The Empire must think that they had as much time as they wanted to plunder the Temple. She had no doubt that the new Emperor would suppress all knowledge of the Jedi that he could. She was going to deny him this one, make sure that some of the Jedi's teachings survived. Ahsoka wasn't sure why she had picked this one in particular; it had just felt right, somehow.  
  
Blame the Force. It told her which Holocron to take, but it would not lift a finger to help those who had died here. Or show that blasted vision to someone who could understand it. Someone who could have done something about it. Yoda, Obi-Wan, Anakin, anyone but her. Ahsoka found a terminal that still worked and practically fell into the chair, her legs giving out beneath her. Getting angry at the Force was like yelling at the wind - the epitome of futility.  
  
There was a slot in the computer where the crystal could be placed; she inserted it and began downloading information. Its capacity was not infinite, so she kept it as barebones as possible. Jedi history, basic meditation techniques, lightsaber forms, that sort of thing. There was a good chance that most of it was already on the holocron, but she wasn't going to bet on it. Before long it was done, yet Ahsoka found herself unable to move. She stared blankly at the screen, and a compulsion slowly worked its way up from the depths of her mind.  
  
She had to know.  
  
Ahsoka logged into the GAR Personnel records. Her own profile had been deactivated when she resigned her commission, but she remembered seeing another's one day on the  _Resolute_ , years ago.  


 

**_USERNAME: CT-7567_**

**_PASSWORD: TORRENT501_ **

 

It still worked.  _Thanks, Rex old buddy. I hope you're doing alright out there._ Ahsoka pushed the sudden mental image of Rex's body mangled by a Jedi's lightsaber out of her mind and navigated to the Jedi database. Her heart sank when she saw the number of active profiles. _887._ Out of an Order numbering over ten thousand Jedi, that was how many were still alive. Before she could even pull up the list of names, the number dropped by one. Ahsoka ground her teeth together in frustration as the database came up.  


 

**_GRAND MASTER YODA - MIA KASHYYYK_**

**_HIGH GENERAL KENOBI, OBI-WAN - MIA UTAPAU_**

**_HIGH GENERAL TI, SHAAK - MIA CORUSCANT_ **

 

That was all that remained of the Jedi Council. Yoda's survival was good news, but Ahsoka raised a hand to her mouth to stifle any cries even as tears began to stream down her face.  _Goodbye, Master Plo._  She had never said that to him in life, she had been too angry at him for not doing more to support her. Ahsoka was almost glad she hadn't, fearful of what she might have said to him. She would never get a chance to mend her relationship with the man who was the closest thing to a father she had ever had. He had been her mentor, the one who she could ask any question she had, the Master who would never judge her. If she asked his advice now he would tell her not to mourn him, only to remember and move on. So she tried to do just that. She scrolled down the list until she saw the next name that she recognized.

**_GENERAL UNDULI, LUMINARA - MIA KASHYYYK_**

Ahsoka felt an inexplicable surge of anger at Luminara Unduli that she was immediately ashamed of. She should have been happy to see the Mirialan Master alive. Or at the least, she should have felt sorry for her. Ahsoka had been so wrapped up in her own pain at the betrayal that she'd never stopped to consider what Luminara must have felt, Jedi Master or not. Luminara couldn't have done anything to stop it; Barriss had chosen her own path. She had to believe that. Shuddering, she moved on.

**GENERAL CHOI, TSUI - MIA KASHYYYK**

That made for three survivors from Kashyyyk. Had the clones of Kashyyyk simply refused to follow the order? From what Shaak Ti had said, that was impossible. Maybe the Wookiees had aided them in escaping. She wished more planets out there were as Jedi-friendly as the homeworld of the great hairy giants, then maybe this travesty would never have been allowed to happen.

**_GENERAL K'KRUHK - MIA BOGDEN 3_**

**_GENERAL KOTA, RAHM - MIA KOTHLIS_**

**_GENERAL HETT, A'SHARAD - MIA SALEUCAMI_**

**_GENERAL IT'KLA, YLENIC - MIA CAAMAS_**

**_GENERAL RAHN, QU - MIA SY MYRTH_**

**_GENERAL SHRYNE, ROAN - MIA MURKHANA_**

**_GENERAL CHATAK, BOL - MIA MURKHANA_**

She skimmed down the rest of the list of Jedi who she barely knew, searching desperately for the one name that she needed to be on it. But as Masters gave way to Knights and Padawans, he was nowhere to be found.

**_COMMANDER DUME, CALEB - MIA CORUSCANT_**

That was the last entry, a Padawan from the cohort behind hers. Maybe there was a mistake, he could have been reported dead but survived somehow, unknown to -

"No," she whispered. It was true, she knew it. Ahsoka had known it somehow since the moment this had all begun, but she had refused to admit it to herself.  
 

Anakin Skywalker was dead.  
   
For some reason she searched for his profile anyway, knowing exactly what she would find.

**_GENERAL SKYWALKER, ANAKIN - KIA CORUSCANT (OPERATION KNIGHTFALL)_**

_Knightfall._ That's what they had called this. Was that supposed to be some kind of sick joke? What sort of monster could have destroyed everything she had ever known and then made a _pun_ out of it? Ahsoka was incensed, but the edge of her anger was taken off by her despair.  _KIA Coruscant_. Somehow reading that was harder than seeing a body - the death of her master reduced to nothing more than a single, impersonal line of text. Killed in action. Killed in action. Killed in action. Killed in action. The phrase kept echoing in her mind. Anakin was lying somewhere within this ruin, killed by his own troops. The man who was somewhere between her teacher and her older brother, the one who stood by her to the end, the Jedi who laughed in the face of death, the Hero With No Fear who feared for everyone he loved, the Chosen One whose destiny turned out to be a lie. Skyguy was gone. With a cry of frustration, Ahsoka punched the screen hard enough that it a spiderweb of cracks and made her hand throb in pain.  
  
"Goodbye..." Ahsoka croaked out, so softly she could barely hear it. Before she could say  _Anakin_ , her head collapsed forward onto the console and she sobbed into it, losing track of everything but what had been ripped away from her forever. His last words to her echoed perfectly in her head.  
  
 _I understand wanting to walk away from the Order._

If only he had done it. If only he had gone with her and-  
  
 _Click._  
  
She dove out of the chair just as the first blaster fired.


	9. More Than A Number

The Jedi dove out of the chair as he fired, the blaster bolts flashing over her head and destroying the terminal she had been using in a shower of sparks. The Jedi rolled once and sprung to her feet while drawing a green-bladed lightsaber. A flash of confused recognition went through the back of the Clone's mind, but his instinct beat it back down. _Good soldiers followed orders._ He backed away and crouched behind some rubble, pelting the Jedi with shot after shot, and signaled for the rest of his squad to open fire. Just as he'd planned, she was caught in a crossfire - even a Jedi couldn't fight that.  
   
Or so he had thought. A bolt skimmed across the Jedi's right thigh, prompting a hiss of pain, but then she half-turned and reached her free hand out. As she did so a silver blur shot out of a bag lying on the floor. As it landed in her grip a  _snap-hiss_  was almost drowned out by the whine of a dozen deecee fifteens. Now armed with two sabers - one green, one blue - the Jedi was having a much easier time of reflecting their shots.  
   
The back of his mind knew that he'd seen that way of fighting before, but where exactly was irrelevant to the mission. _Good soldiers followed orders_. He noted that she hadn't tried to kill any of them yet, unlike any of the other Jedi he had fought. But her restraint did not - could not - elicit any sympathy from him. His orders were to eliminate the Jedi, so that is what he would do. This straggler was trapped - her death was only a matter of time. The mental image of the Jedi lying dead on the archive floor raised the hairs on the back of his neck, but he had no idea why.  
   
Over his helmet comm he heard a strangled cry in his own voice. His heads up display reported that one of his men had taken a direct hit. The Clone grimaced beneath his helmet. So much for restraint. Forget waiting the Jedi out, he needed to finish this now.  
   
Good soldiers followed orders.  
   
He pulled a grenade from his belt and threw it at her, simultaneously shouting into his comm for his men to hit the deck. The Jedi tried to jump free of it, but she was just a second too slow. Whatever barrier she had put up with the Force wasn't enough; she screamed briefly as the shockwave hit her midair and shrapnel lacerated her limbs, then the air blasted out of her lungs in a pained grunt as she landed hard on top of a table. A small part of his mind knew that hearing that scream would have made him panic once, but he disregarded the feeling and moved in to check if she was dead. If she lived, he would correct it.

The rest of his squad moved up with him to observe the fallen Jedi. Her lightsabers had been knocked out of her hands and her tunic was in tatters; blood seeped through the gashes in it and the visible cuts on her skin. He stopped when he noticed her limbs shift weakly; the others followed suit.  
   
He had to do this. The clone raised one of his blasters, aiming between the two pointed montrals on her head.  
   
It was his duty.  
   
But he hesitated for a moment, and before he could pull the trigger the Jedi's eyes flew open and the fear and desperation in them gave him further pause. The moment didn't last long, however. The Clone could feel the air around him crackling with power and fired.  
   
But he was too late. The Jedi jumped to her feet and his shot thudded harmlessly into the table. Before he could correct his aim she threw her arms outward and screamed in a bereaved rage. The Clone was thrown backward by an invisible wall and crashed into one of the bookcases so hard he nearly blacked out. The sudden succession of KIA-alerts from his comm told him that the rest of his squad had not been as lucky. The visor of his helmet was cracked, so he quickly tore it off and found that he had managed to hold on to one of his pistols. He heard the sound of a lightsaber activating and forced himself up, raising the blaster as the Jedi ran towards him bellowing a war cry.  
   
But she stopped mid-swing just in front of him, the humming blade so close to his neck he could feel heat. The anger had fled from her face, and her eyes were wide with shock. The Jedi sighed wearily, a sound filled with a pain that had nothing to do with her wounds.  
   
"Rex," she said breathlessly. "It had to be you, didn't it?"  
   
Rex's blaster was still aimed at the Jedi's heart, but he couldn't bring himself to shoot her even with all of his instincts compelling him to.  
   
"Ahsoka?" That was her name, Rex remembered. Flashes of memory cut through the fog in his mind, but he could feel part of himself straining against them, denying that she was anything more than an enemy.  
   
Her eyes moved down towards his blaster. Bizarrely, she smiled at him. "So we both have the other's life in our hands, then? That almost sounds normal."  
   
Even though she was smiling, it was unlike any smile Rex had seen on her face before. It wasn't happy or even sarcastic, and it threw him even further into confusion. She was smiling at the absurdity of the idea of the two of them killing each other after all they had been through. What all had they been through? Rex had to focus on the memory of her, if he let up for even a second then the compulsion to kill her would overwhelm him.  
   
"What are you doing here?" Rex found the act of simply speaking to her took all of his willpower. "You…you  _left_."  
   
He seized on that memory to fight his instincts, even though it almost felt like the memory of another man. The news that even though she had been found innocent, she was  _still_ lost to him and the rest of the 501st. Nobody had wanted to say anything in the barracks that night, but more than the rest Rex had been utterly enraged and heartbroken by what was done to his Commander…the Commander he had at gunpoint now. She had deserved better than that and she deserved better than this too, but knowing that did not make him lower his arm a millimeter.  
   
"I don't even know," Ahsoka said quietly. "Wishing I'd been here for them, I guess." She looked directly into his eyes, her own sky-blue irises looking out of place next to the raw redness surrounding them. "Why are you here?" She asked him.  
   
Rex took a step back, even more confused. "What? I…" He reached up with his free hand and rubbed his temples, overcome by a sudden pounding headache. "Good soldiers follow orders," he mumbled absentmindedly.  
   
Ahsoka raised a white eyebrow marking that was partly marred by deep red blood. "Really? That doesn't sound like you, Rex."  
   
Rex stiffened at her words, and he could feel his finger start to curl around the trigger. "It's my duty," he said seemingly independent of his actual thoughts. "Order sixty-six, in the event of Jedi officers acting against..." He let the recitation of something he had known instinctively trail off as a thought occurred to him.

"You're not a Jedi," he said. His aim began to shake as he took hold of the idea, just like it had the last time he held a Jedi at gunpoint like this.  _Not a Jedi! It doesn't apply to her, she's not a Jedi!_  
  
But he still couldn't lower it. What was wrong with him? Shooting Jedi had seemed like the most natural thing in the world just a minute before, but now he didn't even know what was going on anymore. It was like Teth all over again, when Asajj Ventress had forced her way into his mind, and he had followed her instructions even though he was screaming at himself not to.  
   
"No," Ahsoka said. Her eyes looked glossy, like she was trying not to cry. "Rex, I'm sorry. I am so, so sorry. It's just like Fives said, you don't even know what you're doing, and now I'm..."  
   
Rex's gaze flickered to her blade, and he knew what the unspoken end of her sentence was. That should have made him open fire before she could do it, but he still couldn't. He was at war with himself, and he almost preferred letting her end it for him to losing the battle. He was aware now, and if he killed Ahsoka Tano while he knew what he was doing, he would never be able to live with himself.  
   
But instead of flashing through his neck, the lightsaber blade retreated into its hilt. Ahsoka stood up straight and looked him in the eye again, silently pleading for him to...what? What was she trying to say?  
Rex heard a clatter and knew that she had dropped her weapon. He had always heard the Jedi say that their lightsabers were their lives, and now Ahsoka had dropped hers at his feet.  
   
The seconds felt like an eternity. His eyes stung as sweat dripped down from his short hair.  
   
"Fives," he said. She had mentioned Fives. Fives, who had talked to him as a friend after Ahsoka had left. Fives, who was killed by a brother for a reason he now knew was a lie. "The mission...the nightmares...he was talking about this..."  
   
"This isn't you, Rex." Ahsoka had thrown her life into his hands out of despair, he could see in the way she looked at him. There was only one thing he could do with it, but he refused with every fiber of his being.  
   
"They want me to kill you, but..." Rex struggled to control himself as his head threatened to split apart under the strain of his rebellion. That blasted chip, the secret that Fives and Tup had died for, it wasn't going to kill Ahsoka too!  
   
His blaster rose unsteadily, until he beat the instinct just long enough to swing it towards his own head.  
   
"I won't!" He yelled, rejoicing in his victory.  
   
Ahsoka rushed toward him. "Rex, don't-"  
   
He pulled the trigger.  
 

* * *

  
    
Ventress heard an explosion and swore again, increasing her pace. If she had stopped to think about it she might have turned the other way and left Tano to her fate like she had threatened to all morning, but she did not stop. She vaulted over a fallen column and sped forward.  
   
Damn it, if anyone was going to kill Ahsoka it would be Asajj for the girl being foolish enough to let clones get the drop on her!  
   
Seconds later she spotted her in an area that looked like a whirlwind had torn through it. Tano was leaning over the body of a clone whose armor made him look higher-ranked than the rest, and as she got closer Asajj had to suppress a wince. The Togruta looked like she had been through a blender. Her clothing was shredded and matted with the blood that was also smeared across her skin. Whatever explosion had torn apart this section of the archives had done a real number on her.  
   
Ahsoka looked up as she approached, a few lines of blood marring her white facial markings. "He's alive," she said.  
   
Asajj stopped and groaned inwardly. She had a very bad feeling about this. "What the hell are you talking about?"  
   
Ahsoka looked back down at the clone, whose shallow breathing indicated that he was indeed alive. "He stunned himself. He almost killed me, but he couldn't do it."  
   
"Great," Asajj said. "Let's go before you start bleeding a trail for them to follow."  
   
Ahsoka glared at her and opened her mouth to retort. But Ventress cut her off before she could start.  
   
"You can't save all of them, Tano."  
   
"You think I don't know that?!" Ahsoka said with a vehemence that surprised her. "Everyone's dead, Ventress!" She looked back down at the clone. "Anakin's dead."  
   
That revelation took her aback, though not for the reason Ahsoka would think. "Are you sure about that?"  
   
"Of course I'm sure. You think I would say that if I thought there was a chance?" Ahsoka's voice broke at the end. "I found the list of who's alive. Anakin isn't."  
   
Asajj watched Ahsoka look down at the unconscious clone and wondered if she should tell her. No, she quickly decided. That unenviable task would go to Shaak Ti.  
   
"And who is this," she asked instead. "Another  _friend_ of yours?"  
   
"Yes," Ahsoka said without looking at her. "His name is Rex. And I'm getting him out of here."  
   
Asajj snorted in disgust. For all of her experience, sometimes Tano was as stupid as the she had been when Asajj first met her on Teth. "Your funeral," she said. "I'll wait for you at the speeder, but if you want to drag the Jedi-killer out of here, do it yourself."  
   
"Like you're any better," Ahsoka spat at her as she walked away. She could hear the sound of plastoid armor scraping on the floor, and found herself silently hoping that another squad of clones didn't come across Tano. Even if she was stupid enough to deserve it, the idea of her getting herself killed over a clone was outright depressing.


End file.
